Part of Civil War @ Charleston Website
Places to visit and things to see listings section
This is a listing of some of the museum and archive collections found within the City of Charleston, South Carolina featuring material related to the American Civil War. These sites are particularly good for a day with rainy or otherwise unpleasant weather. Most of the other historic sites mentioned in our listings have archive collections and artifact displays as well. Civil War @ Charleston also has listings for historic forts and military sites here as well as a general places to see and things to do page.
40 Pinckney St., has uniforms, artifacts from war in Vietnam, Korea, both World Wars, Spanish-American War, Indian wars, Civil War. $2 (adults), $1 (under age 12). 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday. 723-9620.
125 Bull Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Large and growing library and collection on African American history and culture, including slavery, African American Military participation in the war effort and reconstruction. Check the Avery Center website for details. The Avery Center will be coordinated with a reopened Old Slave Mart Museum, protions of the Aiken Rhett House and parts of McLeod Plantation for form a multisite Charleston African American History Museum over the next few years. Planning for that project is underway now. Contact Dr. Marvin Dulaney (email) of the Center for details.
360 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401. The oldest museum in the United States. These people were in business fifty years before the war started and they have an impressive collection of weapons and artifacts on display. They hold an annual Civil War Week in April with lectures, concerts and living history presentations. A major exhibition on Victorian Charleston, including the war and reconstruction period, opens on March 20, 1996 and runs through February 2, 1997. Its Civil War Era exhibit is currently being enlarged. Artifacts from the war period are found there and elsewhere throughout the museum.
The Council Chamber within City Hall has the distinction of being the second oldest Chamber in continuous use in the United States. Twice a month, Charleston's mayor and council sit within this room at the original Charleston-made 1818 black walnut desks.
Through the years, the City has acquired many beautiful paintings, busts and objects of art which have some special connection with Charleston. Among the paintings is John Trumbull's famous portrait of Georqe Washlnqron and the rear end of a horse, commissioned by City Council after the President's 1791 visit. James Monroe by Samuel F. B, Morse, Andrew Jackson by John Vanderlyn and George P. A, Healy's two portraits of Pierre G.T. Beaureqard and John C. Calhoun can also be seen. Included is a fine portrait of Zachary Taylor our twelfth president, by James Beard and the famous 1842 view of the Fireemasters of Charleston grouped on the corner of Broad and Meeting streets by City Hall. The portrait of Beauregard hanging in the chambers is very fine and was painted from life in March of 1861 as the General prepared for the initial bombardment of Ft. Sumter. In in the General is still wearing the uniform he used as Commander of West Point. Another life sized, full length picture of P.T.G. Beauregard hangs in the hall outside chambers. A portrait of Confederate General John A. Wagener, later a Mayor of the city, is also on display as is a portrait of Confederate Postmaster Alfred Huger. There is also a portrait of William Preston, a political exponent of the Southern Cause. Portraits of a number of other Confederate figures hang elsewhere in the building.
The sword presented to General Beauregard by the Ladies of New Orleans in recognition of his capture of Ft. Sumter was bequeathed to the city and is on display. It rests beneath the General's 1861 Portrait.
A bust of James L. Petigru is on display. Petigru was a determined unionist who declared, "South Carolina was too small to be a sovereign nation and too large for an insane asylum" in 1861 during the Secession Convention. Despite his unionist views, the city honored him with a bust after his death and he was very highly regarded.
The bulge in the iron railing of the balcony was designed to accommodate hoop skirts.
The Council Chamber is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. (closed 12 Noon until 1:00 p.m.) at no charge. A guide is available to interpret the paintings and the room. A catalogue of the paintings and sculpture can be purchased for $5.00. Linda Hefley, a wonderful guide, greets visitors.
During his 1863 visit to the City, Jefferson Davis spoke to the people of Charleston from the front steps of City Hall. He assured the people of Charleston that the South would fight until there was nothing but ruins for they North to capture. The crowd chanted, "Ruins! Ruins!" in response.
Experts consider its collection of Confederate artifacts the 4th. Best in the World. The Original Secession Flag, Gen. P.T.G. Beauregard's Pistols and enough original Confederate Uniforms to cloth a platoon are on display here. For detials see Confederate Museum / Market Hall Renovation Page.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Museum aboard the WWII Aircraft Carrier Yorktown at Patriots Point covers the history of the award for heroism above and beyond the call of duty from its orgins during the Civil War to more recent conflicts. Several displays focus on the awards made during the Civil War, including Sgt. Carney's medal for heroism with the 54th. Mass. at Battery Wagner, near Charleston. Check their detailed Medal of Honor Society Site for more information.
One of seven museums of the Karpeles located throughtout the United States. located at 68 Spring Street Charleston, South Carolina 29403 (803) 853-4651. This library / museum (See their informative web page) is located in an impressive Greek Revival Building north of the main tourist district. Impressive, rotating displays of historic manuscipts are on display and some local Civil War related documents. Two things stand out here: abosolute state of the art preservation and presentation of original historic manuscripts. The manuscipts are easy to see and preserved in individual, climate controlled kiosks, each with their own monitoring equipment. A number of replicas of historic documents are on display as well. These are the most convincing reproductions of historic documents the author has ever seen. Though they are clearly marked as reproductions, they looked exactly like the originals in texture, ink, paper, folds and fading. This library claims an original copy of the Constitution of the Confederacy in its collection. Well worth a visit by any serious historian, archivist or educator.
The U.S. Post Office replaced the building which stood on the S.W. corner during the war, which was destroyed in the Earthquake of 1886. The Post Office contains a postal history room with some displays on Confederate Postage in Charleston.
Has the banner displayed at the 1860 Secession Convention on display and 10s of Thousands of original manuscripts and documents in its collection from the priod are available for research. Vist their web site. The online catalogue there allows you to probe their collection. The Tower room contains one of the most complete collections of secondary material on the war in the world with almost every major reference, a full 1888 edition of the Official Records, full runs of Confederate Veteran and the Southern Historical Society Papers. The society claims an important map and plat collection as well.
Located at the Fort, this museum holds the Anderson Flag and the first Confederate Regimental Flag to fly over the fort as well as a full set of displays that cover the fort from its construction to the end of its active service after WWII with primary emphasis on the Civil War Era. Check our Fort Sumter page for full details.