Charleston's Story Starts Here

360 Meeting Street
Downtown Charleston

Founded in 1773, The Charleston Museum, America's First Museum, has been discovering, preserving, interpreting, celebrating, and sharing ever since. Our collections, exhibitions, educational programs, and events are designed to inspire curiosity and conversation - about the South Carolina Lowcountry - and the stories that make us who we are.

Our Historic Houses

HISTORIC HOUSES

Joseph Manigault House

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.

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HISTORIC HOUSES

Heyward-Washington House

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.

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General News

À la Mode or Just Macabre?

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General News

An Ice Age Behemoth: The North American Giant Ground Sloth

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General News

A Gentleman’s Legacy: Charleston in the Golden Age of Piracy

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General News

“Waving the Bloody Shirt:” Reconstruction Era Violence and Political Identity

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