Try these great museums in Charleston, SC with family, friends or solitude.
One of Charleston's most exquisite antebellum structures, the Joseph Manigault House, built in 1803, reflects the urban lifestyle of a wealthy, rice-planting family and the enslaved African Americans who lived there.
When the Gibbes Museum opened in 1905, the nation celebrated what Charleston has always understood: the power of art ? to inspire our imagination, heal our hurt, and nourish our souls.
The Children's Museum of the Lowcountry is a non-profit organization whose mission is to engage young children?s potential by inviting families of all backgrounds to explore environments and experiences that spark imagination and stimulate curiosity through the power of PLAY.
The Old Slave Mart Museum is the first African-American Museum. It is often staffed by individuals who can trace their history to Charleston slaves. Many people don?t realize that at one point during slavery as many as 35-40% of slave entered the United States through Charleston.
Historic Charleston Foundation fulfills its educational mission through the interpretation of its collections and two house museums, the Nathaniel Russell House (c. 1808) and the Aiken-Rhett House (c. 1820). These historic properties serve as the ideal exhibition space for the Foundation?s outstanding collection of fine and decorative art.
Built in 1772, this Georgian-style double house was the town home of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of four South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence. The property features the only 1740s kitchen building open to the public in Charleston as well as formal gardens featuring plants commonly used in the South Carolina Lowcountry in the late 18th century.
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the mouth of the Cooper River on the Charleston Harbor, across from Charleston.
Drayton Hall is an 18th-century plantation located on the Ashley River about 15 miles northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, and directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston, in the "Lowcountry.
The site of this building was originally occupied by the MASONIC Hall, which was completely destroyed by fire in 1838. Market Hall was built in 1841. It is a copy of the Temple of the Wingless Victory in Athens, Greece. Money flowed freely in Charleston at that time and materials for the new building were brought by water from as far away as New York, Connecticut and Italy. Its original purpose was to be the "head building" or front entrance to the six blocks of roofed market space that attached to Market Hall. This was a farmer's market where fruits, meats, vegetables, and fish were sold - no slaves.
H. L. Hunley, often referred to as Hunley, was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War. Hunley demonstrated the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare.