Civil War Sites and Attractions in Charleston, SC
Net note: We, who surely knew better, promised to have this finished by now two weeks ago, but we failed to take a proper survey of the task before us. There are at least 500 buildings and sites in the Charleston area with significant Civil War hsitory. There were at least 45 major military installations alone. We have 75 Churches, each with a relevant history. There were over a dozen hospitals.
Like Gen. Beauregard, we have decided to contract our defenses, bring up reenforcements, trench in and get ready for the long haul.
Sugggestions are welcome by contacting William Hamilton
a link to a list of visitor oriented web sites and information. A page of Commercial Web sites related to the Civil War in Charleston is also online.
Charleston's Forts and Military Installations
Now have their own page, Charleston Civil War Era Forts and Military Installations.
Museums and Archive Collections
Now have their own museum and archives collections page. A greater volume and variety of material is availabe for study and examination here now than has ever been before.
Religious Congregations and Buildings
This page collects information about Charleston's congregations and religious buildings dating from the war, many listings include links to detailed sites.
The Citadel Military College
The Citadel is the Military College of South Carolina and dates to 1848. Members of the Corps of Cadets fired on the ship Star of the West in January 1861, nearly starting the war. The entire student body volunteered for Confederate Service. The College has a museum with displays on its history and holds a weekly dress parade of its 2000 member Corps of Cadets on Friday afternoons. For details see the Citadel Overview Webpage
Aiken Rhett House
Has its own page and essay, a grand, mysterious mansion.
The the remaining 54 acres, house (picture) and period cabins of this James Island Plantation have been preserved and are owned by the historic Charleston Foundation, Telephone (803) 723-1623. The Plantation was the location of a Confederate Divisional Hospital, served as a camp for the 55th. Mass. during the first phase of Federal occupation of the island in 1865 and was a temporary location of the Freedman's Bureau. The Plantation is open for occassional special events, tours and a Civil War reenactment sponsored by the 54th. Mass.
Charles Pinckney Historic Site
Charles Pinckney plantation in Mt. Pleasant was used for a camp by both armies during the war. The Mt. Pleasant home is a rare example of a small plantation cottage typical of the Civil War era and earlier. The National Park Service administers the site and has a detailed web page on the Pinckney site. Several exhibits relate to African American life on the Plantation and slavery.
Old Charleston Jail
This jail housed members of the 54th. Massachusetts Awaiting trial in 1863; Confederate Deserters and other types of prisoners during the war. The adjacent Marine Hispital building was used as a military hosptial during the war. Corner Franklin & Magazine Street, follow Franklin two blocks North from Broad. Not open to the public.
This antebellum Cemetary has an imposing Confederate Monument surrounded by the graves of 800 Confederate Soldiers gathered from the fields where they fell around Charleston and the Nation. Two crews of the C.S.S. Hunley are buried here as well. In addition to the men who fell during the war, hundreds of other Confederate veterans are buried at Magnolia. This is probably the most overlooked Civil War site in Charleston, but well worth a visit. Travel North on East Bay Street & Morrison Drive about 3 miles. Pretty enough for a picknic. Every style of monument is represented here, including Charleston's only pyramid. Site of the annual Confederate Ghost Walk Fundraiser to help preserve the Confederate Memorial ground.
A Mapquest Interactive Atlas link to aLocation Map - Magnolia Cemetaryin available.
Market Area
Charleston's Market served as an actual grocery and meat market during the war until the Federal Bombardment drove the population North of Calhoun Street. Market Hall is the once and future site of the Confederate Museum and served as a depot for arming the troops arriving in Charleston during early 1861. Today it is a busy retail and retaurant district for tourists.
The Charleston Shoreline Shop sells Civil War Art, Books and Merchandise.
Market Hall will be renovated soon. Follow progress on the project.
- This original production by Clay Rice features local performers singing traditional and original songs from Charleston's heritige. The Hunley is asssigned a prominent place on the program, with appropriate heroic treatment as is Harriet Tubman, the underground railroad conductor who was a scout during the war in South Carolina. Other Civil War related content sometimes appears on the program. A real effort is made to present most of the show in the Gullah dialect of the coastal sea islands, the actual language spoken by coastal blacks and familiar to whites of the period that is fast fading away today. Several authentic spirituals of the period are also included. Upbeat original pop numbers composed by Clay Rice round out and unify the program that shows a grasp of and enthusiasm for the heritige of the area. Unlike the larger, better merchandised Serenade show (a professional, Vegas style production with generic content) Lowcountry Legends conveys something of the actual flavor and content of the area's historic heritige. The use of Gullah in the program is very ambitious. Almost nowhere else will you hear people conducting actual, full dialogue in this fading language. Not merely words, but the structure and pattern of the language is presented. If you are lucky you may catch a moonpie during the Legends Moonpie toss. Like moonpies, Lowcountry Legends is something tasty which nourishes the Southern soul. 8:00 p.m. most evenings, 30 Cumberland Street. For directions and reservations call (803) 722-1829.
A Location Map - Lowcountry Legends is available.
The Customs House at the end of Market Street was begun before the Civil War. Alexander Campbell worked as stone cutter on it, before going North. He later returned to Charleston as a member of the 79th. New York to fight his Charleston brother James at the Battle of Secessionville. The building was completed after the war and is Charleston's largest stone building. The central great hall is open to visitors. In Porgy and Bess, Porgy sets off for New York to find Bess with this as his only landmark.
134 Meeting Street - Site of Institute Hall
On this site the Ordinance of Secession was signed on December 20, 1860 before Two Thousand cheering Charlestonians. The original building burned a year later in the great fire of 1861. The current building on the site has been designed to be reminiscent of the original hall. An exterior plaque on the building marks the site and a copy of the Ordinance of Secession hangs on display in the first floor lobby. This was also the site of the 1860 National Democratic Convention, which adjourned without nominating a candidate after several Southern delegations withdrew, the political event which precipitated the war by assuring the election of Abraham Lincoln. A portion of the divided party later reconviened in Baltimore.
Broad Street & the 4 Corners of Law
The Four Corners of Law is the traditional civic center of
the City of Charleston. A number of notable sites are clustered
here. It is found where Broad and Meeting Street Intersect and
was so named by Ripley's Believe it Or Not as being the sole
intersection with City, State, Federal and God's law share the
corners.
THE COURTHOUSE, Broad St.
The Charleston County Courthouse stands on the N.W. Corner of
the Intersection. This building was used during the war. among
the trials held here was that of the members of the 54th. Massachusetts, who were tried and
acquitted of slave insurrection in November of 1863 with the aid
Nelson Mitchel who conducted their defense. This building was
damaged during Hurricane Hugo and is being renovated. Plans
call for restoring its historic interior and adding historic
displays.
For those who have noticed and are keeping count Charleston has
suffered two major wars, occupation by two enemy armies, one
major earthquake, about a dozen hurricanes, a major tornado, one
slave insurrection, and several devastating epedemics. Its
economy has collapsed on four separate occassions and grass has
grown in the streets waiting on the coming of a new prosperious
age. We're doing OK now and the only major reminders of the
last disaster are the faded Hurricane Hugo T-shirts we seldome
wear.
Washington Park, Broad & Meeting Streets
Located behind City Hall is Washington Park. It is named for
the Washington Light Infantry, a pre war militia unit which
supplied three full companies to the Confederate Army. A forty
foot stone obelisk stands at the center foot the park in memory
to their dead whose names are listed on the shaft. To the East
of the obelisk is a monument to Gen. Beauregard. To the south
is a bust of Henry Timrod, a poet of the Confederate Cause whose
verses were popular during the war. Some other memorials are
mounted on the park wall on the East side. The fireproof
building of the S.C. Historical Society stands in the N.W.
corner of the Park.
Confederate Home
The Confederate Home and College stands one door East of
Washington Park. Confederate widows lived here at least until
the 1950's. A rather odd site specific art installation
touching on the war was placed here during the Spoleto Festival
as part of the Places with a Past exhibit in 1991. It is
documented in the Book, "Places with a Past."
Walker, Evans and Cogswell
Operated at 3 Broad Street before, during and after the war.
Most printing operations were relocated to Columbia, SC in
1863. The firm printed military forms and Confederate Currency.
One of its managing partners, Cronelius Irvine Walker was Lt.
Col. of the 10th. SC Vol. Infantry and
eventually became Commander-in-Chief of the United Confederate
Veterans. He is buried in St. Phillip's Churchyard in a grave
filled with earth from the Chickamauga Battlefield.
The Exchange Building
This building at the intersection of Broad and East Bay Streets
was used extensively during the war, including being the site of
the Confederate Post Office. It has a significant Revolutionary
War history as well. It is open for tours.
Waterfront Park
If one continues past East Bay Street towards the water on
Exchange Street, one comes to Waterfront Park. Easily visible
across the channel is Castle Pinkney, the first Federal Fort
occupied by the Confederacy. The Fort may have never fired a
shot in anger during the war, but was part of a secondary harbor
defense. It served as a prison for Federal Soldiers including
members of the 54th Mass. The North
side of the park contains four bronze maps of the City mounted
on stone cubes showing its development throughout its history.
Temple KKB - The Oldest Reformed Jewish Congration in the United States claimed Phebe Pember, matron of Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, as a member. A small museum and the Civil War period sanctuary are open to visitors. The Temple Website gives details
Middleton Place
This Plantation on the Ashley River was burned by the Federal Army in 1865. Extesive gardens, outbuildings, springhouse, mill, and one of the wings of the original house remain. One Middleton cousin immigrated to the Confederacy from his native Italy to fight for the Confederacy. The main attraction here are the large gardens, largely unchanged since before the war.
Drayton Hall
This large house is the sole, surviving antebellum Plantation house in the Ashley River, open for tours. The house has been little changed from its 19th. Century configuration and has never been electrified. The Federal army believed it was a quarantine house and the soldiers would not approach it. All the other Ashley River plantation houses were burned by the Federal army in 1865. It is preserved by the National Trust which has a web page on Drayton Hall.
Is now found in its own file Charleston Civil War Visitor's Info
Please feel free to contact William Hamilton with your suggestions. on sites and locations worthy of note.
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