About Charleston

A closer look at a true Lowcountry treasure.

Strolling through the streets of Charleston, South Carolina, you get an overwhelming sense of history and patriotism. From the defining views of the United States’ longest cable-stayed Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, to the USS Yorktown resting mightily at the banks of Charleston Harbor at Patriot’s Point. From the cobblestone streets of downtown to the cannon booms and bugle calls of The Citadel. This beautiful coastal town is a must for any traveler.

For events and information about Charleston, visit The Charleston Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.

Charleston is known as The Holy City due to the prominence of churches on the low-rise cityscape, particularly the numerous steeples which dot the city’s skyline, and for the fact that it was one of the few cities in the original thirteen colonies to provide religious tolerance, albeit restricted to non-catholics. Many Huguenots found their way to Charleston. Charleston was also one of the first colonial cities to allow Jews to practice their faith without restriction. Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, founded in 1749, is the fourth oldest Jewish congregation in the continental United States. Brith Sholom Beth Israel is the oldest Orthodox synagogue in the South, founded by Ashkenazi (German and central European) Jews in the mid 19th century.

Charleston is a major tourist destination, with a considerable number of luxury hotels, hotel chains, inns, and bed and breakfasts and a large number of award-winning restaurants and quality shopping. The city is well-known for its streets lined with grand live oaks draped with Spanish moss, and the ubiquity of the Cabbage Palmetto, which is the state tree of South Carolina. Along the waterfront in an area known as Rainbow Row are many beautiful and historic pastel-colored homes. The city is also an important port, boasting the second largest container seaport on the East Coast and the fourth largest container seaport in North America.

Charleston boasts many historic buildings, art and historical museums, and other attractions. The following are among those which are open to the public:

The Exchange and Provost was built in 1767. The building features a dungeon which held various signers of the Declaration of Independence and hosted events for George Washington in 1791 and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788. It is operated as a museum by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The Powder Magazine is a 1713 gunpowder magazine and museum. It is the oldest surviving public building in South Carolina.

The Gibbes Museum of Art opened in 1905 and houses a premier collection of principally American works with a Charleston or Southern connection.

The Fireproof Building houses the South Carolina Historical Society, a membership-based reference library open to the public.

The Nathaniel Russell House is an important Federal style house. It is owned by the Historic Charleston Foundation and open to the public as a house museum.

The Gov. William Aiken House, also known as the Aiken-Rhett House is a home built in 1820 for William Aiken, Jr.

The Charleston Museum was the first museum built in America, founded in 1773.

The Heyward-Washington House is a historic house museum owned and operated by the Charleston Museum. Furnished for the late 18th century, the house includes a collection of Charleston-made furniture.

The Joseph Manigault House is a historic house museum owned and operated by the Charleston Museum. The house was designed by Gabriel Manigault and is significant for its Adam style architecture.

The Market Hall and Sheds, also known simply as the Market, stretch several blocks behind 188 Meeting St. Market Hall was built in the 1830s and houses the Museum of the Confederacy. The Sheds house some permanent stores but are mainly occupied by open-air vendors.