Museums in Charleston
Art, science, history and specialist collections worth a half-day each.
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1.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
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2.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.
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3.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.
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4.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.
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5.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.
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6.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.
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7.International African American Museum
The International African American Museum (IAAM) is a museum of African-American history in Charleston, South Carolina, located at a former shipping wharf where approximately 40% of the nation's enslaved persons disembarked. The museum opened June 27, 2023, after 20 years of planning.
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8.The Charleston Museum
The Charleston Museum is a museum located in the Wraggborough neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1773, it is the oldest museum in the United States. Its collection includes historic artifacts, natural history, decorative arts and two historic Charleston houses. It replaced the Old Charleston Museum that burned down due to unknown causes.
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