In the Lowcountry History Hall, see materials related to the Native Americans who first inhabited the South Carolina Lowcountry as well as the colonists and enslaved people who transformed the region into an agricultural empire.
Exhibit highlights: Some of the earliest known artifacts related to the settlement of Charleston, including a portion of the Walled City. Slave badges, that allowed enslaved people to be hired out as laborers. Ceramics created by enslaved potters including "Dave" Drake. Tools used in rice cultivation and other plantation artifacts.
buy tickets detailsIn the Museum’s Armory, see excellent examples of historic weaponry, dating from 1750 to the twentieth century, with uses that ranged from military to more personal applications such as hunting and dueling.
Exhibit highlights: Revolutionary War and Civil War era swords. A variety of flintlock, percussion and repeating pistols, muskets and rifles. Weaponry and equipment from World War I and II.
buy tickets detailsIn Becoming Americans, explore Charleston’s important role in the American Revolution, from protest to independence.
Exhibit highlights: Francis Marion's personal items. Artifacts related to British and American Revolutionary War soldiers, including a rare cartridge box. George Washington inaugural button. Portrait of Captain William Hall dressed in his Revolutionary War uniform, attributed to artist Henry Benbridge.
buy tickets detailsIn Charleston in the Antebellum Era, learn about the Denmark Vesey trial, how technological inventions helped make Charleston a key port for cotton export, and what was happening leading up to the Civil War.
buy tickets detailsIn City Under Siege, see the Museum’s exhibition concerning Charleston’s role in the Civil War.
Exhibit highlights: Table and chairs used at the drafting of the Ordinance of Secession. Artillery shells fired into and around Charleston. Civil War swords, pistols and rifles. Clothing of a soldier killed at the Battle of Secessionville, fought near Charleston. Soldier and civilian personal effects, including the prosthetic arm of Colonel Peter Gaillard who was badly wounded defending Battery Wagner.
buy tickets detailsIn Beyond the Ashes, learn about the political and social changes that took place in the wake of the Civil War, the Jim Crow Era, the Earthquake of 1886, the Charleston Renaissance, the transformation of Charleston in the 20th century, the impact of the World Wars on the area, the local Civil Rights struggle, Hurricane Hugo, and more.
Exhibit highlights: Exhibit highlights: A 20-foot cypress church pew from the Edisto Presbyterian Church made by enslaved people, the wool shirt worn by Josiah McKie, one of the Red Shirts who participated in the Hamburg Massacre in 1876, objects from the Earthquake of 1886, the piano rented by George Gershwin on which he composed Porgy and Bess, WWI and WWII uniforms and weapons, local Civil Rights items, and a battery-powered alarm clock that stopped at 12:54 when the rising storm surge of Hurricane Hugo overtook it in McClellanville.
buy tickets detailsIn the Bunting Natural History Gallery, experience an extraordinary presentation of fossils, specimens, bird and animal mounts, and geologic examples, which together tell the story of Lowcountry natural history. Learn about the diverse array of creatures that once called this area home and the remarkable changes that have taken place in its landscape over hundreds of millions of years.
Exhibit highlights: Mounted skeletons of Pelagornis, the world’s largest known flying bird, and other prehistoric animals such as an 18-foot long crocodile and a 13-foot tall giant ground sloth. Fossil invertebrates and plant species that are nearly 300 million years old and extensive fossil examples from the Ice Age. Cast of jaws from a giant Megalodon, an extinct 40-foot long shark that once roamed South Carolina coastal waters. Mounts of extinct bird species such as the Carolina Parakeet, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and Passenger Pigeon and a wide variety of modern birds that still inhabit the area.
buy tickets detailsIn the Early Days gallery, see exotic collections from around the world, representative of the Museum’s nineteenth century cosmopolitan collecting focus.
Exhibit highlights: Greek and Roman artifacts. Jarred biological specimens preserved in rum. Plaster cast of the monumental statue of Pharaoh Rameses II. Animal specimens and skeletons from around the world including a two-headed snake, Indian python, anteater and spiny echidna.
buy tickets detailsThe Charleston Museum is pleased to present Kidstory, a fun and exciting, hands-on exhibit for children, where the fascinating history of Charleston and the Lowcountry comes alive.
Exhibit highlights: Interactive displays, designed specifically for children, will capture their interest and spark a love of history for years to come. Examine creatures under a microscope, hear stories of the Lowcountry, illuminate a lighthouse, raise a pirate flag, play in a “kid-sized” historic mansion, learn and have fun! It is all part of Kidstory.
buy tickets detailsIn the Historic Textiles Gallery, come see rotating special exhibitions featuring objects from our rich historic costume and textiles collection-- one of the finest in the southeastern United States. Depending on the subject of the show, objects on view can include couture fashion, working wear, military uniforms, quilts, needlework, and much more.
See Current Exhibit
In the Loeblein Gallery of Charleston Silver discover the impressive work of the South’s finest silversmiths, from the colonial era through the Victorian Age.
Exhibit highlights: Strawberry Chapel communion service buried during the Civil War. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney’s Revolutionary War gorget. Historic snuff boxes. Hot water urn purchased by Eliza Lucas Pinckney from England as a gift to her daughter Harriott Pinckney Horry. Jewelry and personal items including a 1797 L'Epine pocket watch.
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