Attractions in Charleston

Hyman's Seafood

Hyman's Seafood is a seafood restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina in the United States. The restaurant is a fifth-generation family business owned by the Hyman family.

Charleston Library Society

Charleston Library Society, founded in 1748, is a subscription library in Charleston, South Carolina.

United States Custom House

The U.S. Custom House or U.S. Customhouse is the custom house in Charleston, South Carolina. Construction began in 1852, but was interrupted in 1859 due to costs and the possibility of South Carolina's secession from the Union. After the Civil War, construction was restarted in 1870 and completed in 1879. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974. It is also a contributing property of the Charleston Historic District.

The Robert Brewton House

The Robert Brewton House is a historic house at 71 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. With a construction date at or before 1730, it is the oldest dated example of a "single" house. A single house is one room wide, with the narrow end towards the street, the better to catch cool breezes. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

USS Yorktown

USS Yorktown (CV/CVA/CVS-10) is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. Initially to have been named Bonhomme Richard, she was renamed Yorktown while still under construction, after the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), which was sunk at the Battle of Midway. She is the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, though the previous ships were named for the 1781 Battle of Yorktown. Yorktown was commissioned in April 1943, and participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Vanderhorst Row

Vanderhorst Row in Charleston, South Carolina is a three-unit residential building built in 1800 by Arnoldus Vanderhorst, a governor of South Carolina (1792-1794). Each unit is four floors. The units at the north and south end of the range have doors along East Bay Street on the front in addition to doors on the sides of the unified building and exits to the rear. After the Civil War, the use of the building changed, and commercial purposes were installed. The building fell into disrepair before it was bought in 1935 by Josiah E. Smith for a restoration which cost $30,000. The architect for the restoration of the building was Stephen Thomas. The three units rented for $1500 to $1800 a year after the work was completed. As restored, each unit had a living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast room, and pantry on the first floor; a drawing room, bedroom, and bath on the second; two more bedrooms on the third; and servants' rooms in the attic. For many years after the restoration of the building, the central unit was rented by the Charleston Club for its headquarters; the club relocated to 53 East Bay Street in 1958.

Mace Brown Museum of Natural History

The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is a public natural history museum situated on the campus of The College of Charleston, a public liberal arts college in Charleston, South Carolina. With a collection of over 30,000 vertebrate and invertebrate fossils, the museum focuses on the paleontology of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Admission to the museum is free, and donations are welcome. The museum has the holotype specimens of Coronodon, Cotylocara, and Inermorostrum, as well as the reference specimen of Ankylorhiza tiedemani

The Best Friend Train Museum

The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive widely considered the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States for revenue service. It was also the first locomotive to suffer a boiler explosion in the United States.

Louis G. Gregory Bahá'í Museum

Louis George Gregory was a prominent American member of the Baháʼí Faith who was devoted to its expansion in the United States and elsewhere. He traveled especially in the South to spread his religion as well as advocating for racial unity.

The George Walton Williams Mansion

The Williams Mansion is a Victorian house at 16 Meeting St., Charleston, South Carolina. The mansion is open for public tours.

Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is a naval museum located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the mouth of the Cooper River on the Charleston Harbor, across from Charleston.

The Old Slave Mart

The Old Slave Mart is a building located at 6 Chalmers Street in Charleston, South Carolina that once housed an antebellum-period slave-auction gallery. Constructed in 1859, the building is believed to be the last extant slave auction facility in South Carolina. In 1975, the Old Slave Mart was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its role in Charleston's African American history. Today, the building houses the Old Slave Mart Museum.

St. Michael's Church

St. Michael's Anglican Church is a historic church and the oldest surviving religious structure in Charleston, South Carolina. It is located at Broad and Meeting streets on one of the Four Corners of Law, and represents ecclesiastical law. It was built in the 1750s by order of the South Carolina Assembly. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.

Unitarian Church in Charleston

The Unitarian Church in Charleston, home to a Unitarian Universalist congregation, is a historic church located at 4 Archdale Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It is the oldest Unitarian church in the South and the second oldest church building on the peninsula of Charleston.

Circular Congregational Church

The Circular Congregational Church is a historic church building at 150 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina, used by a congregation established in 1681. Its parish house, the Parish House of the Circular Congregational Church, is a highly significant Greek Revival architectural work by Robert Mills and is recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

First (Scots) Presbyterian Church

First (Scots) Presbyterian Church is a historic church located at 53 Meeting St., Charleston, South Carolina. The congregation was established in 1731 when a dozen Scottish residents left the Independent Church of Charleston, now called the Circular Congregational Church.

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located in Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States.

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, colloquially known as Mother Emanuel, is a church in Charleston, South Carolina, founded in 1817. It is the oldest AME church in the Southern United States; founded the previous year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, AME was the first independent black denomination in the nation. Mother Emanuel has one of the oldest black congregations south of Baltimore. The Mother Emanuel was the scene of the deadly Charleston church shooting.

Marion Square

Marion Square is a small public park in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The ten-acre square (4.0 ha) was established as a parade ground for the state arsenal under construction on the square's north side. It is best known as the former Citadel Green because The Citadel occupied the arsenal from 1843 until 1922 when the Citadel moved to the city's west side. Marion Square was named in honor of Francis Marion.

Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, Liberty Square

Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in Charleston County, in coastal South Carolina. It mainly protects Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, the Charleston Light and Liberty Square. It was known as Fort Sumter National Monument until it was renamed in the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed March 12, 2019.

Brittlebank Park

Brittlebank Park is a ten-acre (4.0 ha) park located between Lockwood Boulevard and the Ashley River in Charleston, South Carolina near Gadsden Creek. To the south is a condominium project and to the north is the minor league baseball stadium, the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.

Gadsdenboro Park

Concord Park is a 9.1-acre development in Charleston, South Carolina, near the Cooper River and South Carolina Aquarium. The name is used to refer to a 5.4-acre public park planned for the center of the development, the 3.7-acre mixed-use development along the north and south edges, and the overall development.

Wragg Square

White Point Garden

White Point Garden is a 5.7 acre public park located in peninsular Charleston, South Carolina, at the tip of the peninsula. It is the southern terminus for the Battery, a defensive seawall and promenade. It is bounded by East Battery, Murray Blvd., King St., and South Battery.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina, US, connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The bridge has a main span of 1,546 feet (471 m), the third longest among cable-stayed bridges in the Western Hemisphere. It was built using the design–build method and was designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff. Since its opening in 2005 the bridge has been considered an icon of Charleston and is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.

Isle of Palms Connector

The Isle of Palms Connector Bridge connects the town of Mount Pleasant with the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. The bridge is part of, and comprises most of the length of, South Carolina Highway 517, which is commonly known as the "Isle of Palms Connector", and bears the official name of "Clyde Moultrie Dangerfield Highway". It connects US 17 in Mount Pleasant, SC with South Carolina Highway 703 on the Isle of Palms. It was designed by a joint venture between LPA and Grenier and built by Massman Construction Company.

Ben Sawyer Bridge

The Ben Sawyer Bridge is a swing bridge that connects the town of Mount Pleasant with Sullivan's Island in South Carolina. The bridge swings on its central axis to open for boat traffic which is too tall to clear the bridge, and has an operator's house in the center of the swing span from which a tender can operate the bridge. The bridge was originally constructed in 1945, but the steel superstructure for the approach spans and swing span was replaced in 2010, albeit retaining the same general appearance.

South Carolina Aquarium

The South Carolina Aquarium, located in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, opened on May 19, 2000. Located on the historic Charleston Harbor, visitors can enjoy views of the waterfront, including the USS Yorktown and Ravenel Bridge. The Aquarium is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). More than 5,000 animals reside in dozens of exhibits spanning two stories. The largest exhibit, the Great Ocean Tank, holds 385,000 US gallons and stands at 42 feet deep, making it the deepest tank in North America. Additional experiences include multiple touch tanks, a sea turtle hospital and three open-air exhibits. Visitors can see various native South Carolina species including a bald eagle, river otters, alligators, cownose rays, sea turtles, sand tiger sharks, roseate spoonbills, jellyfish and more.

Charleston City Market

City Market is a historic market complex in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Established in the 1790s, the market stretches for four city blocks from the architecturally significant Market Hall, which faces Meeting Street, through a continuous series of one-story market sheds, the last of which terminates at East Bay Street. The market should not be confused with the Old Slave Mart, where enslaved people were sold, as enslaved people were never sold in the City Market. The City Market Hall has been described as a building of the "highest architectural design quality." The entire complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Market Hall and Sheds and was further designated a National Historic Landmark.

Northwoods Mall

Northwoods Mall is a 101-store super-regional 833,833-square-foot (77,465.6 m2) indoor shopping mall located in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is the second largest indoor shopping mall in the Tri-County area next to Citadel Mall. Built in 1972, the mall is located at the intersection of Rivers Avenue, Ashley Phosphate Road and Interstate 26. Northwoods Mall was the first regional indoor shopping mall constructed in the South Carolina lowcountry and featured Belk, Sears, and the locally owned Kerrison's department stores as its original anchor tenants. A food court offers options such as Charleys Philly Steaks and Sbarro. The mall's anchor stores are Dillard's, Belk, JCPenney and Burlington. Northwoods Mall also features Books-A-Million and Planet Fitness as inline junior anchors.