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- 3) Business District - Attractions
Business District - Attractions
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Map of the 'Business' District
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Charleston County Courthouse
Charleston County Courthouse
Charleston County CourthouseCharleston County Courthouse
Charleston, SC 29401
Hours: Open to the public during normal business hours
Charleston County Courthouse was first built in 1753 as the provincial capitol for the colony of South Carolina. The original Statehouse building was two stories high with an elaborate lobby and grand staircase.
The original building burned during the Constitutional Ratification Convention of 1788. The construction of the new building was built in a Neoclassical style and was completed in 1792. The building became a center for legal activity, housing circuit, state and federal courts as well as the sheriff's offices. A third story was used by the Charleston Library Society and Charleston Museum, the oldest museum in the country.
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Hiberian Society Hall
Hiberian Society Hall
Hiberian Society HallHiberian Society Hall
Charleston, SC 29401
Not open to the public
Hibernian Hall was built in 1840 to provide a meeting place for the Hibernian Society, an Irish benevolent organization founded in 1801.
Hibernian Hall was the first semi-public building of pure Greek style to be built in Charleston. The interior has a magnificent ballroom and double stair hall. The Irish harp carved in the panel above the main door and within the iron gates, as well as a stone from Ireland's Giant's Causeway, reflect the ethnic heritage of the Hall's founders
The Hall still serves as the location for many events, including an annual St. Patrick's Day celebration, society balls and other social occasions.
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Gibbes Museum of Art
Gibbes Museum of Art
Gibbes Museum of ArtGibbes Museum of Art
Charleston, SC 29401
Tuesday: 10:00a - 5:00p
Wednesday: 10:00a – 8:00p
Thursday - Saturday: 10:00a - 5:00p
Sunday: 1:00p - 5:00p
The Gibbes Museum of Art was established in 1858 as the Carolina Art Association and moved into a building in Charleston in 1905. The museum was designed by Frank Pierce Milburn who used architectural elements like a Tiffany-style dome, Doric columns, and pediment-capped windows and doors. Formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, the Gibbes Museum of Art, was established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858. The museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in the Charleston Historic District, in 1905. The museum opened on April 11, 1905. The collection on display on the opening day included more than 300 pictures, many bronzes, and about 200 miniatures in addition to an "instructive collection" of Japanese prints.
Today the Gibbes Museum also has a premier collection of over 10,000 works of fine art, principally American works with many of them having connection to Charleston or to the South. Visitors can see curators and conservators work through observation windows. They can also now observe the renowned Gibbes collection of more than 300 miniature portraits up close in open storage cabinets. The entire ground floor of the museum has been made admission-free to serve as a creative community space.
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Formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, the Gibbes Museum of Art is an art museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in the Charleston Historic District, in 1905.
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Charleston Library Society
Charleston Library Society
Charleston Library SocietyCharleston Library Society
Charleston, SC 29401
Hours:
Monday - Friday 9:30a - 5:30p
Saturday 9:30a - 2:00p
The Charleston Library Society is thought to be the third library established in the United States. It was organized in 1748 by a group of young men who wished to keep up with the scientific and philosophical issues of the day. To promote education, it began giving funds for the establishment of a college in the 1770s, which later became the foundation of the College of Charleston. The Society purchased scientific instruments and appointed a committee to collect materials that promoted the study of the natural history of the area. These collections became the foundation of the Charleston Museum, the oldest museum in the United States.
The current building was constructed in 1914. It was designed in the Beaux Arts classical style using stuccoed brick and marble detailing. Built on a raised basement, the main floor is punctuated by arched Palladian windows separated by double pilasters with Ionic capitals. Today, the Library still serves researchers from all over the world, in person and by correspondence, providing access to the collections of rare books, periodicals, manuscripts, clippings, maps, directories, almanacs, and a newspaper collection that dates to 1732.
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Unitarian Church in Charleston
Unitarian Church in Charleston
Unitarian Church in CharlestonUnitarian Church in Charleston
Charleston, SC 29401
Hours: Open to the public
Friday and Saturday: 10:00a - 1:00p
The Unitarian Church is the oldest Unitarian church in the South. Construction began at the Archdale site in 1772, but was temporarily interrupted by the Revolutionary War. It was finally completed in 1787.
A two-year renovation of the church began in 1852 which a rear chancel, a four-story tower and added stucco to the original brick walls. There were arched windows, stained glass panels, a crenellated tower and a Tudor arch entrance installed giving the church the appearance of Gothic features. The interior vaulting is made of lath and plaster and was modeled on the Henry VII chapel at Westminster in London, England.
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Saint John's Lutheran Church
Saint John's Lutheran Church
Saint John's Lutheran ChurchSaint John's Lutheran Church
Charleston, SC 29401
Hours: Open to the public
Monday - Friday: 9:00a - 4:00p
The first Lutheran congregation was formally organized in Charleston in 1752, and their first building was dedicated in 1764. This wooden building with a steeple stood behind the site of the current church on Clifford Street, which was known in 1788 as "Dutch Church Alley."
The St. John's Lutheran Church houses Charleston's oldest Lutheran congregation. It was built beginning 1816 through 1818. The rectangular, stucco brick building combines Federal and Baroque elements. The Italianate steeple with bell-shaped roof was added in 1859.
St. John's is one of more than 1400 historically significant buildings within the Charleston Old and Historic District.
The Gateway Walk begins at the St. John's Lutheran Church.
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Saint Mary of the Annunciation
Saint Mary of the Annunciation
Saint Mary of the AnnunciationSaint Mary of the Annunciation
Charleston, SC 29401
Hours: Open to the public
Monday - Friday: 9:30a - 3:30p.
The congregation of St. Mary's was the first Roman Catholic Church in the Carolinas and Georgia. The purchase of land at Hasell Street was around 1789 and construction of the church was in 1802. The Charleston fire of 1838 burned much of the surrounding neighborhood and destroyed most of the Catholic Church. The present church was built in 1839 in the Classical Revival style.
In 1960 the interior of the church was restored. The painting that hangs over the altar was originally painted in 1814, and hung in the earlier brick church. Salvaged after the 1838 fire, the original artist, John S. Cogdell, was able to restore the painting. The paintings on the walls and ceiling are copies of old masters and were painted in Rome before being installed in the church in 1896.
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Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim SynagogueKahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue
Charleston, SC 29401
Tours:
Monday - Friday 10:00a - 12:00p
Gift shop remains open until 4:00p
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue is the country's second oldest synagogue and the oldest in continuous use. It was built in 1849 on the site of the congregation's first synagogue destroyed in the Charleston fire of 1838. The building is an excellent example of the Greek Revival style, as its form, portico and rich ornamentation are adapted from classic Greek temples.
The congregation of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim--meaning Holy Congregation House of God--was established in colonial Charleston in 1749, and is now the nation's fourth oldest Jewish community.
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue is located at 90 Hasell St., 10 blocks south of the temple's Coming Street Cemetery, the oldest Jewish burial ground in the South. The temple is open for tours Monday-Friday 10:00a-12:00p; the gift shop remains open until 4:00p. Call 843-723-1090 for further information.
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Trinity United Methodist Church
Trinity United Methodist Church
Trinity United Methodist ChurchTrinity United Methodist Church
Charleston, SC 29401
Hours: Tuesday - Friday 8:00a - 12:00p
The original Trinity Primitive Methodist Church was a wooden structure built in 1792 but was destroyed by the Charleston fire of 1838. It was replaced by a brick building which stood until 1902 after having suffered fire, federal bombardment during the Civil War, hurricanes, and an earthquake. The last Trinity sanctuary on Hasell Street was used only 24 years by the congregation.
In 1926, Trinity purchased the present church here on Meeting Street from Westminster Presbyterian Church. The Sanctuary was produced as a Christian version of the Roman temple complete with grand portico and imposing Corinthian columns. It is quite beautiful.
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Washington Light Infantry
Washington Light Infantry
Washington Light InfantryWashington Light Infantry
Charleston, SC 29401
Hours: Visitation by appointment only
The Washington Light Infantry (WLI), organized in 1807, is one of the nation’s oldest militia units. Anticipating a second war with Britain, the citizens of Charleston planned for a number of volunteer corps, one of which was the Washington Light Infantry. It alone survives.
Its historical military collections feature uniforms, weapons, flags and accouterments from the Civil War to modern times.
