John the Baptist, a neo-Gothic structure built to replace the previous cathedral, which was lost in the devastating 1861 fire that destroyed much of the city. Among the city's most interesting is the brownstone Cathedral of St. Official site: Remarkable historic churches are scattered throughout Charleston, and each has a story to tell. Kidstory brings the history of Charleston and the Lowcountry to life in hands-on exhibits.Īddress: 360 Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina The Loeblein Gallery of Charleston Silver shows southern-made silver through the Victorian era (including George Washington's christening cup), and the Historic Textiles Gallery shows changing examples from the museum's outstanding collection of historic needlework, costumes, and textiles. The Early Days gallery displays the often-quirky collections of 19th-century world travelers, including an Egyptian mummy and case and Greek and Roman antiquities. Its collections are vast, arranged in a number of permanent exhibits that begin with Native Americans and early settlers in the Lowcountry History Hall, where you can see rare slave badges and early tools used in rice growing.Įxhibit areas illustrate early weaponry, life during the Revolution, and Charleston's role in the Civil War. Known as "America's First Museum," The Charleston Museum was founded in 1773 under the Charleston Library Society. Location: Between North and South Market streets The techniques and patterns originated in West Africa, and these baskets are the quintessential souvenir of Charleston.īuilt in 1841 in the Greek Revival style, the red sandstone building with green ironwork trim, along with its sheds, are among the more than 100 sites in the city listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As tourists watch fascinated, Gullah artisans in the open-air "sheds" alongside the market hall weave these intricate works of art from native Lowcountry rushes, creating treasures that are among the country's oldest and most highly prized traditional crafts. Vendors sell locally made handcrafts and traditional food products like stone-ground grits, but the prime souvenirs of Charleston are the beautiful sweetgrass baskets. Lively and colorful, it is a good place for souvenir shopping and just absorbing the local atmosphere. One of the most popular things to do in Charleston is to browse through the old market building, a prominent landmark in the historic district. The Plantation Stableyards recreate life outside the great house, with costumed interpreters demonstrating skills and trades that include blacksmithing, pottery, carpentry, cooperage, and weaving, activities that would have been carried on by slaves on a Low Country rice plantation in the Antebellum years. On a tour of the 1755 house, you'll learn about four generations of the Middletons and their slaves as you see furniture, silver, rare books, porcelain, and portraits maintained by the same family for more than three centuries. The gardens bloom year-round with rare camellias in the winter and azaleas in the spring.
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Stretching in a magnificent series of descending terraces, hedged galleries, and pools, the grounds show off their symmetrical 17th-century European design. In addition to its fully furnished plantation house, Middleton Place is further distinguished by America's oldest landscaped gardens. Nothing rings with the aura of the Old South like a great plantation, and Charleston has several to show off. Note: Some businesses may be temporarily closed due to recent global health and safety issues. You'll be able to find the best places to visit with this handy list of things to do in Charleston. Magnificent historic homes, churches, and other buildings (Charleston has more than 1,400 historic structures) line the streets, and a carriage ride is one of the most romantic things to do in Charleston, especially at night.Īlong with historic homes, plantations, and museums, Charleston's tourist attractions include an aquarium the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier and Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Riding through the Historic District feels like traveling back in time to the old days of Charleston. In 1773, Charleston was described as the wealthiest town in the American South, and today, it retains perhaps more than any other, the ambiance of plantation society.Ī walk or a drive in a horse-drawn carriage through the Historic District, with its veranda-fronted mansions and slender church towers, makes it easy to see why the heroine of Gone with the Wind preferred to live in Charleston. We may earn a commission from affiliate links ( )Ī well-preserved Southern belle, Charleston personifies the romantic notion of the Old South, with its aristocratic homes surrounded by lush foliage and its atmospheric brick streets.
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