Resource Guide Information for Charleston, South Carolina
MUSEUMS IN CHARLESTON SC
Charleston is a "living museum" with over 3,000 historic buildings in the Historic Districts alone, but is also the home to various interesting museums mentioned below.
360 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29403 (843) 722-2996
America's First Museum, The Charleston Museum, was founded in 1773. Its mission is to preserve and interpret the cultural and natural history of Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry. The museum includes a main building and two national historic homes in downtown Charleston.
On quiet, downtown streets lined with oak trees, azaleas and oleanders, one discovers antebellum houses, wrought iron gates, and quaint gardens, interspersed with five-star restaurants, exquisite shops, business offices and stylish art galleries. A number of old streets are still paved with cobblestones, from ballast used in colonial sailing ships. Entire blocks are devoted to aesthetic landscapes, such as White Point Gardens at the foot of the Battery. Here cannons fired against pirates and during the Civil War.
A stroll by horse-drawn carriage along the harbor front offers fresh sea breezes and grand views of historic Fort Sumter, colorful sailboats and container ships entering one of America's busiest seaports.
135 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29401 843 722-2706
The Gibbes Museum of Art maintains approximately 10,000 objects that directly support its mission to "collect, conserve, and interpret an American fine arts collection with a Charleston perspective." This includes objects that reflect the distinct patronage of this region. The strength of the collection lies in its 18th, 19th and early 20th century paintings, works on paper (prints, drawings, watercolors, photographs), miniature portraits, and sculpture. The objects in each medium reinforce the history of Charleston as an important colonial and antebellum city, and today as a tourist destination.The Gibbes Museum also offers workshops and classes through it's School of Art.
American Military Museum Located in Aquarium Wharf adjacent to the debarkation point for tours to historic Fort Sumter, the Museum is filled with authentic artifacts from 14 American conflicts from the Revolutionary War through the recent war in Iraq. Visitors marvel at 70 display cases filled with 260 uniforms, 33 flags, medals and hundreds of military artifacts from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. 360 Concord Street, Charleston SC (843) 723-9620
Angel Oak/Scarlet's Tree Reportedly the oldest thing -- living or man-made -- east of the Rockies, Angel Oak is a live oak tree aged approximately 1,500 years. Some locals simply call it The Tree. It stands in a wooded area along Bohicket Road of John's Island outside Charleston, South Carolina. Angel Oak is a live oak. It is native to the low country and is not very tall but has a wide spread canopy. Lumber from the live oak forests in the sea islands was highly valued for shipbuilding in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Angel Oak stands on part of Abraham Waight's 1717 land grant. Mr. Waight owned several plantations. The City of Charleston now owns Angel Oak. There is no charge to view the tree and is a must see when visiting Charleston, South Carolina. The City of Charleston now owns Angel Oak. There is no charge to view the tree and is a when visiting Charleston, South Carolina. 3688 Angel Oak Road Johns Island, SC (843) 559-3496
South Carolina Aquarium The South Carolina Aquarium was designed to help educators teach students about the aquatic habitats of South Carolina. 57 Hassell Street (843) 720-1990
Francis Beidler Forest Audubon Sanctuary After exploring the website, make a date to go to the swamp for a visit. The wildlife, the ancient trees, the quiet flow of blackwater as it meanders through the swamp, await your trip to Beidler Forest. 336 Sanctuary Road Harleyville, SC (843) 462-2150
The Citadel Museum The Citadel was established in 1842 and is one of the last two military state colleges in the nation. The Citadel Museum offers a history of the military college of South Carolina and Corps of Cadets from 1842 to the present. 171 Moultrie Street Charleston, SC (843) 792-6846
Charleston County Park and Recreation Caw Caw Center Charleston SC The Caw Caw Interpretive Center a 654-acre site located within the Caw Caw Swamp is just 25 minutes from downtown Charleston, Summerville and Walterboro. The Center, rich in natural, cultural and historical resources, is comprised of several former rice plantations that operated during the 18th and most of the 19th century. Here and throughout the South Carolina Lowcountry enslaved Africans and African Americans were forced to apply their West & Central African agricultural experience, technology, and skills to rice cultivation. Out of vast, Lowcountry swamps these men, women and children successfully converted thousands of acres to rice fields. Still evident today are the earthen dikes, water control structures called rice trunks, and canals-all fruits of their slave labor.
Today, the Interpretive Center staff manage former rice fields and adjacent areas at the center as a wildlife sanctuary for over 350 species of plants and 11 major plant communities. These plant communities include fresh, brackish, salt water marshes; cypress-tupelo swamp; and maritime, bottomland and beech-holly forests. These diverse communities provide habitat for over 200 species of birds, 30 species of mammals, 28 species of amphibians, 38 species of fish; and 52 species of reptiles. At Caw Caw visitors may witness bald eagles perched or soaring over the swamp; otters playing in canals, wild turkeys foraging in the forests, alligators sunning themselves, or dragonflies darting about the waterways. For more information abou the Caw Caw Interpretive Center.
The Hunley In 1863, news from Mobile of the successful trial runs of the Hunley had made its way to Charleston. Could this secret submersible weapon help save Charleston from the ever-tightening Union blockade? With proof of the submarine's destructive powers becoming more known, the Hunley arrived by train in Charleston on the morning of August 12, 1863 and was soon granted an audience with besieged Charleston's military commander, Pierre Gustave Tousant Beauregard. Warren Lasch Conservation Center at Charleston's Old Naval Base toll free 877-448-6539
Karpeles Manuscript Museum The Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, is housed in a grand and bold Greek Revival structure of the Corinthian order after the Temple of Jupiter in Rome. The history of the building dates back to 1791 when William Hammet and a group of Methodist dissenters decided to form their own Methodist congregation. The new congregation grew over the period of 65 years until 1856 when a larger sanctuary was needed. Property was purchased and the cornerstone was laid on June 24, 1856. The church was called St. James¹ Chapel, "as he was the great Apostle of practical piety". During the Civil War the Confederate forces in Charleston used the building as a medical storehouse and hospital until the Union Army attacked and Charleston was evacuated. The building was one of the first attacked in an effort to capture the water supply held in the large cisterns on the ground floor. 68 Spring Street, Charleston, SC 29403 (843) 853-4651
Morris Island Lighthouse By 1673, the Charles Towne colony had authorized a light to be burned every night on a small sandy island, later named Morris Island, six miles southeast of Oyster Pointe at the mouth of the harbor. This simple beacon was a burning "fier ball" of pitch and ocum lit in an iron basket. Each ship entering and leaving the harbor paid a small tax to help support the beacon and its attendant.
What we know as Morris Island was actually three smaller islands divided by narrow creeks. The northern most island, named for Captain John Cumings, was Cumings Island or Cumings Point. The middle island was Morrison's Island and the third, farthest south, called Middle Bay Island. By the end of the 18th century, these creeks were silted-in forming one larger island. The name was shortened from Morrison's to Morris Island. The main channel into Charles Towne harbor near Morris Island was called Pumpkin Hill Channel, thought to be named after an early plantation there.
The "fier" baskets were utilized into the 18th century. By 1716, the keeper began to use huge tallow candles. The candles were a maintenance improvement over the "fier" baskets, but did not provide enough light or cast light far enough out to sea. Spider lamps burning fish oil soon replaced them. Folly Beach, SC
Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon Few buildings reflect Charleston, South Carolina's early history as effectively as the Old Exchange Building and Provost Dungeon. Considered to be one of the three most historically significant Colonial buildings in the United States, the Old Exhange Building is a "must see" when visiting Charleston. 122 East Bay Street, Charleston, SC 29401 (843) 727-2165
Patriots Point Naval Museum The centerpiece of Patriots Point is the world famous aircraft carrier USS YORKTOWN, a heavily decorated warship that was at the "tip of the spear" in America's victory in the Pacific during World War II. Find out more about the ships of Patriots Point, the magnificent aircraft, and the rest of the exhibits that make Patriots Point one of the most visited attractions in the Carolinas! Click on the image to the right to take a tour of the flight deck! Patriots Point, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 (843) 884-2727
The Bells of St. Michael's Meeting & Broad Streets Downtown Charleston A visit to the very heart of Charleston and its "Four Corners of Law" with good timing, at Broad and Meeting Streets you may hear the chime of mighty church bells ringing overhead. The ringing bells of St. Michael's Episcopal Church is one of the oldest attractions and built in 1761 is the oldest church edifice on the peninsula and the second-oldest congregation in the city. This is the church where George Washington worshipped on his famous 1791 presidential tour.
The Magnolia Cemetery 70 Cunningham Street (843) 722-8638 Magnolia Cemetery is the quiet, final resting place of many important Charlestonians and other players in the city's long running and colorful drama. This 19th century cemetery is not far off East Bay Street, which becomes Morrison Drive. Many of the city's leaders, politicians, and judges and other pioneers in many fields are buried beneath the ancient live oaks of Magnolia. Among them are five Confederate brigadier generals. There is a vast Confederate section, with more than 1,700 graves of the known and unknown. Eighty four South Carolinians who fell at the Battle of Gettysburg are included. Magnolia's gates are open daily from 2:00 to 6:00pm
The Postal History Museum Meeting & Broad Streets Charleston Tucked away at the "Four Corners of Law" there sits a little gem of history in Charleston. The Postal History Museum is a special room inside the Charleston post office showing visitors tidbits of our colonial town postal history. This little museum is a must for anyone who wondered how 18th and 19th century mail was handled. It is open during the regularly scheduled post office hours. Don't miss the 1896 post office building, elaborately detailed and the oldest continuously operating post office in the Carolinas.
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