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| Sights & Attractions |
| With a history that dates back to 1670, a preservationist spirit, and a gorgeous locale between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, Charleston's beauty, charm, and refined elegance is best seen among the 2,000 restored homes and churches of its Historic District. Many of them are listed below, along with other important attractions of the port city.
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| Within Downtown Charleston:
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 | | Calhoun Mansion: A wealthy merchant/banker built this house in 1876, but it's the future owner, Patrick Calhoun, grandson of US Vice President John C. Calhoun, whose name is associated with the home today. Including the cupola, the Victorian/Italianate-style house claims almost 24,000 square feet of space and no less than 35 fireplaces. This was one of the South's first homes (1882) to have electricity.
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| Joseph Manigault House: This National Historic Landmark (c. 1803) was once home to the Manigaults, a wealthy rice-planting family descended from French Huguenots who emigrated to escape persecution in Europe. The building owned and operated by the Charlestown Museum, is considered a fine example of neoclassical architecture, and features a beautiful curving central staircase, a hidden staircase linking the second and third floors, period furnishings, attractive gardens, and outbuildings that include a kitchen, slave quarters, stable and privies. Visitors are often surprised to learn that the very colorful color schemes used in some of the rooms are original.
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue: Though the synagogue building dates from 1840, the congregation was formed way back in 1749, making it the fourth oldest Jewish community in the nation. The building, with its columned portico and classic lines, is an excellent example of the Greek Revival style, popular in pre-Civil War towns and cities.
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"The Charleston Tea Party?"Boston dumped British Tea into the harbor in protest. Residents of Charleston had a different idea: they stole the tea and hid it in the cellar of the Old Exchange Building. Later, they sold it off to help fund further anti-British activities.
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 | | St. Philip's Episcopal Church: Need a lighthouse? Need a church? What better place to marry the two than high within a tall, church steeple. That's exactly where you'll find this building's beacon. Built in 1835, the church helped guide the member's spirits as well as the ships entering and leaving the port.
St. Michael's Episcopal Church: This is the oldest (1761) church building in the city and certainly one of the most photographed. You'll see the church's tall, white steeple rising above the city's skyline from almost everywhere in the Historic District. Linger in the area for a while and you'll hear the church's bells ring out.
Charleston Aquarium: Charleston is not all about historic houses, museums, and forts. It's also about fish and other sea animals, and the Charleston Aquarium (just a few blocks upriver from the cruise terminal) is where to find them. Sharks, otters, rays, and other local marine creatures are here for the seeing. With an IMAX theater, it's especially popular with kids.
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| Dock Street Theater: Since 1736, this theater has been entertaining locals and visitors. It was one of the first theaters in the country, and today the Charleston Stage Company continues the tradition with performances that appeal to all members of the family.
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| Gibbes Museum of Art: This museum dates from 1905, and houses a collection of over 10,000 pieces. Most represent regional paintings, watercolors, photographs, and sculpture. The museum also supports a year-round schedule of events and exhibitions.
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| Edmondston-Alston House: Location, location, location! This stunning, Greek Revival house offers one of the best views of Charleston Harbor. As with most homes along the shore, the shaded balconies were designed to take advantage of the cool, prevailing winds off the harbor. During the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the balcony provided front row seats to the action! The house, erected in 1825, contains original family furnishings, interesting documents, and portraits of local dignitaries and families.
Charleston Museum: The Charleston Museum does not just display history - it is history. It's America's oldest museum! The museum has been open to the public since 1773 - that's three years before the Declaration of Independence! Today the museum is noted for its exhibits on African-American history and crafts. It also contains well-organized exhibits of local geology, elegant clothing, Civil War memorabilia, paintings, silverware, and even the skeleton of a giant whale.
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 | | Heyward-Washington House: Look carefully at the Declaration of Independence and you'll see Thomas Heyward's signature. Here's his house, built around 1772 and is a treasure of local period furnishings. This is the house George Washington rented while visiting in 1791. Dubose Heyward, a descendant of the homes' first occupant, is famous for his book Porgy, later made into the musical, Porgy and Bess.
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| The Citadel: This college called, "The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina" is sometimes referred to as the, "West Point of the South." Opening in 1842, the college closed for seventeen years following the Civil War. The Citadel has been at its present location since 1922 and houses a museum and military archives.
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 | | Old Exchange Building and Provost Dungeon: The building was completed in 1771 and the basement dungeon was added ten years later. On the front steps of the building, the colony of South Carolina announced its independence from Britain in 1776. Twelve years later, within this building, the colony ratified the US constitution, thereby joining the new nation as the eighth state. (For the record, the vote was 149 in favor, 73 opposed.)
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| Nathanial Russell House: You could say it was rice and indigo that built this magnificent neoclassical home in 1808. When wealthy Nathanial Russell married into the equally wealthy Hopton family, it united the fortunes of two of Charleston's richest families. A tour of the house gives you a glimpse into the privileged lifestyle of the city's elite as well as the important roles African-American slaves played in homes such as these.
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| Battery Park: The park offers a cool, breezy spot to relax and take in the harbor scene. In early 1864, the Confederate submarine, the H. L. Hunley, torpedoed the U.S.S. Housatonic four miles from today's Battery Park, off the coast of Charleston. The ship was destroyed, and the event went down in history as the first time a submarine sank an enemy warship. The Hunley also went down, literally, sinking seconds later with its crew of eight. The reasons why are still unclear. The sub was raised in 2000 and excavation began in 2001.
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 | | First Scots Presbyterian Church: This church was built way back in 1814, yet here in Charleston - with over three centuries of history - it only manages the title as the city's fifth oldest. Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the US Capitol, designed the church. During the Civil War, the church's north bell (since replaced) was given to the Confederate army to be recast for the war effort - a common occurrence of the time.
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| Aiken-Rhett House: The original house was erected in 1818 and was redecorated and expanded in the 1830's. The Aiken family (William Aiken was a governor of South Carolina) resided in the home until 1975. Outbuildings include stables, kitchens, slave quarters, and privies. The Aiken family were frequent visitors to Europe; the home's interior showcases some of their purchases, including paintings, chandeliers, and sculptures.
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| Old City Market: Erected in 1841, the covered and street-side market features small shops, restaurants, and a flea market that extends block-by-block along Market Street. Be sure to wander through sometime during your visit. You'll find everything here, from the tourist-y tees and souvenirs to the beautiful, hand-crafted sweetgrass baskets the Lowcountry is famous for.
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 | | Riviera Theater: This beautifully restored Streamline Modern theater (1939) stands in the heart of the city on King Street. Now part of Charleston Place, one of the city's most elegant downtown hotels, the Riviera serves as a conference and function center. The centrally-located theater building is available for exhibits, meetings, and weddings. Be sure to wander by at night when the marquee is alive in lights.
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| Beyond Downtown Charleston:
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| The streets of downtown Charleston are so pleasant to stroll that it's easy to forget the city offers equally interesting and historic attractions outside of town.
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| Fort Moultrie: Built atop Sullivan Island, this fort figured prominently during the Revolutionary War. One of the Colonies' first successes was gained here, when South Carolina repelled a British attack in 1776.
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| Magnolia Plantation & Its Gardens: The plantation dates from 1676, and the home (1760) bills itself as "America's oldest man-made attraction," opening its doors to the public in the late 1860's. The previous plantation home was burned by Sherman's troops; this home was dismantled and brought in from nearby Summerville. The Audubon Swamp Garden with its mammals, birds, and reptiles (yepˇalligators!), is well worth a visit.
Museum on the Common: Remember Hurricane Hugo? The 1989 storm made a direct hit here at Mt. Pleasant, just across the Cooper River from Charleston. It was so damaging that its name has been retired to the history books. To view some vivid before and after photos, make a stop here. Local East Cooper history is also on display here at this quaint Shem Creek Village location. And while visiting, you might want to make a lunch stop at one of the excellent seafood restaurants that cluster along Shem Creek.
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 | | Boone Plantation: The Boone family owned thousands of acres of cotton fields here in Mt. Pleasant, worked by hundreds of slaves. Besides the plantation home, visitors can stroll the English gardens and check out the slave cabins, a cotton gin, and smoke house. Portions of the 1939 classic "Gone With the Wind" were filmed here. Docents claim the home is the most photographed plantation mansion in the country.
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| Castle Pinckney: In contrast to Fort Sumter, some maintain that nearby Castle Pinckney (actually a fort, not a castle) has never fired a shot, nor been fired upon. Completed in 1804, the fort was destroyed by a hurricane that same year. Rebuilt in time for the War of 1812, it saw no action whatsoever. In December of 1860, this fort (not Fort Sumter) became the first Federal fort to be taken over by a Southern government. Nevertheless, the takeover was peaceful and during the ensuing Civil War, Castle Pinckney was converted to a military prison and quietly continued its "war years." Today, the fort is abandoned.
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 | | Drayton Hall: This red-roofed plantation house has graced the banks of the Ashley River since 1742. Tours of the building (preserved almost exactly as it was built - there's no running water, electricity, or central heating in the home) are conducted by knowledgeable docents,who love to relate Drayton family stories passed down through the generations.
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| Fort Sumter: The fort sits atop a man-made island in Charleston Harbor. It is here where the first shot of the American Civil War was fired in 1861. Local guides proclaim it as the most fired-upon, shot up, blasted, and bombed site in the United States. Not until the final months of the Civil War was the fort surrendered. Tour boats make frequent trips to the island fort leaving from downtown Charleston docks.
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| Middleton Place: When the various Middleton family members weren't busy with their roles as governor, president of the First Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, signer of the Ordinance of Secession (the list goes on), they retired to their plantation along the Ashley River. The gardens (first planned in 1741) alone, are well worth the short trip.
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 | | Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum: The Yorktown, a World War II aircraft carrier, is docked here and open for tours. Kids will love the onboard simulated jet fighter mission. Also on display are other naval vessels (the WW II destroyer USS Laffey, the USCG cutter Ingham, and the submarine USS Clamagore), model exhibits, memorabilia, and military aircraft of the era. ' | |
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