Attractions in Charleston SC

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

120 Broad Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 724-8395

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Hours: Open to the public
Monday - Friday: 9:00a - 4:00p

The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, built in 1854, was the first brownstone cathedral. But, it was destroyed in the Charleston Fire in December 1861. It took 45 years of fund-raising to begin rebuilding the present cathedral. The cornerstone for the new cathedral was laid in January, 1890 and was opened in 1907. The cathedral was renamed Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and is a magnificent structure that is built on the foundation of the old cathedral.

The structure of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is Connecticut tool-chiseled brownstone. Over each entrance are unique stained glass windows including the Papal coat of arms and the seal of the state of South Carolina. The pews are carved Flemish oak and the three original altars are of white Vermont marble.

The Cathedral seats 720 people and is noted for its Franz Mayer & Co. stained glass windows and hand painted Stations of the Cross, and neo-gothic architecture. The spire was not built at the time due to the lack of funds during the construction of the cathedral and its numerous renovations. The church was finally completed on March 25, 2010 with the addition of the steeple with bells. The Cathedral with its new spire is the seventh tallest building in the city. The spire is covered in copper lattice and is topped with a 16x9 foot gilded copper Celtic cross.

In the nave are 14 large two-light windows, representing the Life of Christ from His Nativity to the Ascension. Above the high altar is a five-light window copied from Leonardo DaVinci’s “Last Supper.” The rose window above it is the Baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist. In the clerestory of the sanctuary are windows honoring the four evangelists.

Edmondston-Alston House Museum

Edmondston-Alston House Museum

Edmondston-Alston House Museum

Edmondston-Alston House Museum

21 East Battery (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 722-7171

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Hours:
Sunday & Monday 1:00p - 4:30p
Tuesday - Saturday 10:00a - 4:30p

The Edmondston-Alston House was built between 1820 and 1828. The house originally was built in the English Regency style architecture. The three-story house has a panoramic view of the Charleston harbor and High Battery. The house is constructed of brick and stucco faced with wide porches on its south side and a large staircase hall, which reaches into two drawing rooms located on the second floor. The property is mostly surrounded by a wrought-iron fence which is built on top of a three foot brick wall. The house has an open floor plan of two large rooms on each floor with smaller adjacent areas. The second story has fourteen foot ceilings. There are large window and door openings for good air flow circulation. There are several outhouses which served as kitchens, servant quarters, and horse stables and carriages.

In 1837 Edmondston was forced to sell his house due to economic reversals during the panic of 1837. The house was purchased by Charles Alston, a member of a well-established rice-planting dynasty. Charles Alston updated the architecture of his house in the Greek Revival style. A third story piazza with Corinthian columns and a cast-iron balcony across the front was added plus a rooftop railing bearing the Alston coast of Arms was added.

The house has remained in the Alston family since 1838.

Edward Rutledge House

Edward Rutledge House

Edward Rutledge House

Edward Rutledge House

117 Broad Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(800) 720-9812

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The Edward Rutledge House was the home of Edward Rutledge who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The house is now a bed and breakfast but it still retains its 18th century core dating back to around 1760.

First (SCOTS) Presbyterian Church

First (SCOTS) Presbyterian Church

First (SCOTS) Presbyterian Church

First (SCOTS) Presbyterian Church

53 Meeting Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 722-8882

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Hours: Open to the public
Monday - Friday: 8:30a - 5:00p

First Scots Presbyterian Church, the fifth oldest church in Charleston, was constructed in 1814. Its design was inspired by St. Mary's Cathedral in Baltimore, Maryland designed by Benjamin Latrobe.

The First Scots Presbyterian Church has walls that are three feet thick and covered with stucco. Twin towers rise above a columned portico. Reflecting the heritage of the congregation, the seal of the Church of Scotland is displayed in the stained glass window over the main entrance, and the decorative wrought iron grilles contain thistles, the symbol of Scotland. First Scots replaced the congregation's first church, a frame building previously located in the southeast corner of the graveyard. The graveyard contains more than 50 stones that date earlier than 1800.

 Recently an English bell made in 1814, the year of the church's construction, was hung in the north tower, replacing the original which had been given to the Confederate army for cannons.

First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church

61 Church Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 722-3896

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Tours:
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday:  10:00a to 12:00p

The First Baptist Church is the oldest Baptist Church in the South and is often referred to as the "Mother Church of Southern Baptists". The First Baptist Church was dedicated in 1822 and was designed by Robert Mills. Mr. Mills considered the First Baptist Church to be "the best specimen of correct taste in architecture of all the modern buildings in this city."

The Church was founded in 1682 and originally organized in Kittery, Maine. In 1683 the Baptists relocated to South Carolina. The first Church meetings were held in the King Street home of William Chapman. In 1699, the present lot was donated to the Church by William Elliot and a frame building was constructed. Today, the First Baptist Church remains an active congregation and is one of more than 1400 historically significant buildings within the Charleston Old and Historic District.

First Baptist Church is located at 61 Church St. Tours are given Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00a to 12:00p. Call 843-722-3896 or visit the church's website for further information.

Miles Brewton House

Miles Brewton House

Miles Brewton House

Miles Brewton House

27 Kings Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

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Miles Brewton House was built between 1765 - 1769. It is an excellent example of Georgian Palladian architesture. The house is a two story design which includes four main rooms on each floor and a main facade with a two stor portico. You can see the intricate ornamentation created by English wood carvers. This house is a perfect example of the "Charleston double house"

Nathaniel Russell House

Nathaniel Russell House

Nathaniel Russell House

Nathaniel Russell House

51 Meeting Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 724-8481

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Hours:
Monday - Saturday 10:00a - 5:00p
Sunday:  2:00p - 5:00p

Nathaniel Russell House is a historic house built by the wealthy shipping merchant Nathaniel Russell in 1808. It is one of the most significant neoclassical houses in the United States. One interesting feature in the house is an elliptical spiral staircase which ascends three floors. The Adamesque ornamentation of the fireplaces' mantles and cornices are among the most detailed in the city. This 19th-century mansion is home to an extraordinary circular dining room and self-supporting three-story spiral staircase.

A visit to the Nathaniel Russell House provides a detailed understanding of wealthy families during the economic booms of the 19th century. The house has three main rooms on each floor with diverse geometric designs - a front rectangular room, a center oval room and a square room in the back.

There are slave quarters behind the house which were used to accommodate 18 slaves who served the Nathaniel Russell House.

An exhibition in the original kitchen house highlights artifacts uncovered during archaeological investigations at the site—pottery sherds, beads, and part of a slave tag. These objects reveal the everyday duties performed by slaves and the spiritual beliefs of the enslaved men and women that maintained the grand townhouse.

Today, the interiors are restored to their original 1808 grandeur and surrounded by formal gardens.

Postal Museum

Postal Museum ****

Postal Museum

Postal Museum ****

83 Broad Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 868-8118

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Lobby Hours:
Monday - Friday: 7:00a - 5:00p
Saturday: 7:00a - 12:00p

Museum Hours:
Monday- Friday: 11:30a - 3:30p

The United States Post Office and Courthouse was built in 1896. The building has a Renaissance Revival style with a lavish interior and is indicative for elaborate public buildings of the late 19th century. Grey granite from Winnsboro, South Carolina was used along with a square corner tower, rusticated quoins, and balustraded balconies to create a palatial and imposing exterior. The Post Office occupies the first floor and is decorated with carved mahogany woodwork, a marble staircase, brass and ironwork, and stone columns. The second floor contains a paneled Victorian courtroom.

As you walk into the lobby you feel as if you have stepped back in time. There is an old phone, typewriter and mail box. The old postal window is set up just as it would have been many years ago. The museum, located in the lobby, is a one room filled with displays and the importance of the mail in the growth of Charleston. There are ink stamps with ink, carrier bicycles, typewriters, photographs, post office memorabilia, old stamps and newspaper clippings.

Robert Brewton House

Robert Brewton House

Robert Brewton House

Robert Brewton House

71 Church Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

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Not open to the public

The Robert Brewton House was built in 1730 and is the oldest dated single house in Charleston. The house stands sideways on the lot. It is three-stories high and the narrow side is to the street with the entrance at the side. The house is one room wide across the street front and one room to either side of the hall on all three floors.

The Robert Brewton House remains much as it was over 250 years ago and has been beautifully restored as much as possible to its 18th century design. Original heart pine floors and cypress wainscoting are preserved intact and the exterior quoins are believed to be the first purely decorative stucco quoins done in North America.

Today this classic house is a private residence.

Robert William Roper House

Robert William Roper House

Robert William Roper House

Robert William Roper House

9 East Battery Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

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Not open to the public

Robert William Roper House was built around 1838. The house is an example of early 19th Century Greek Revival architecture, built on a grandiose scale. The house has massive two-story- high Ionic columns raise above the first floor. The ceiling heights are 18 feet with tall windows extending to the floor.

It is said that Mr. Roper intended his showcase home to be the first residence seen by visitors approaching Charleston from the sea.

Today the house is a private residence.

Saint Michael's Episcopal Church

Saint Michael's Episcopal Church

Saint Michael's Episcopal Church

Saint Michael's Episcopal Church

71 Broad Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 723-0603

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Hours: Open to the public
Monday - Friday: 8:45a - 4:45p
Saturday mornings

St. Michael's Episcopal Church is one of the finest Colonial American churches in the country and the oldest church in Charleston. The church was built between 1752 and 1761 and resembles 18th-century English pattern book of examples widely used throughout the colonies. It is similar in many respects to London's St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Elegant features of the two-story stuccoed brick church are its giant classical portico and a 186-foot high massively proportioned steeple.

Approximately 15 years after its doors opened, St. Michael's became Charleston's focal point of Colonial resistance to the British. Contributing to the war effort, the lead roof was melted down for bullets.

The current portico dates to the late 1880s, and is a replica of the original which was damaged in the 1886 earthquake. The interior of the church still retains its traditional 18th-century English design, with a three-sided second story gallery and native cedar box-pews. The pews have recently been restored to their 18th-century finish. St. Michael's bells are among the city's most beloved treasures, imported from England in 1764.

During the Revolutionary War the bells were taken to England as a prize of war, but a London merchant purchased and returned them. During the Civil War, they were sent to Columbia, but cracked during a fire in 1865. The metal fragments were salvaged and sent to England to be recast in their original moulds and were later hung in the church tower.

Simmons-Edwards House

Simmons-Edwards House

Simmons-Edwards House

Simmons-Edwards House

14 Legare Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

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The Simmons-Edwards House was built for Francis Simmons, a Johns Island planter, around 1800. It is a three-story house with a raised basement in the Federal style.The Simmons-Edwards House is famous for its large brick gates with decorative wrought iron.The gates, which were installed by George Edwards (who owned the house until 1835) and which bear his initials, include finials that were carved to resemble Italian pinecones. They are frequently referred to as pineapples by locals, and the house is known popularly as the Pineapple Gates House.

South Carolina Society Hall

South Carolina Society Hall

South Carolina Society Hall

South Carolina Society Hall

72 Meeting Street (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

(843) 723-9032

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The South Carolina Society Hall was built in 1804 and is considered one of Charleston's most valuable Adamesque buildings. The Society Hall consist of a two-story brick building on a high basement covered with stucco. The first floor had 3 rooms which were used for a small school with quarters for the schoolmaster. The other room was used for billards. A large meeting room and ballroom were on the second floor. The meeting room contained a small musician's gallery and a decorative Palladiam window and the ballroom was ornamented with a Neoclassical canopy. During the Civil War and also the 1886 earthquake the interior was renovated during the Victorian period.

William Gibbes House

William Gibbes House

William Gibbes House

William Gibbes House

64 South Battery (South of Broad)
Charleston, SC  29401

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The William Gibbes House, built sometime shortly after 1772, and redecorated in 1794, is one of the finest two-story frame residences in America.The house is built upon a high English basement in the classical Georgian elevation.

The interior of the house features richly carved wooden elements, firplaces and mantles, plaster ceilings, and a dramatic upper floor ballroom. The double staircase is graced by a fine iron rail, which was added about 1794. The Gibbes House has the usual Georgian four-room double pile floor plan, known in Charleston simply as a double house.

The gardens at the Gibbes House have been restored based on remnants of an earlier garden that existed on the site and in the historic tradition of other Charleston gardens.