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Charleston Museum
3 reviews for Charleston Museum
Did you know that the oldest museum in the United States is the Charleston Museum? I sure didn't until a few months before I went to Charleston - I definitely would have guessed that something in Boston or Philadelphia or New York would have it beat, but the Charleston Museum is the longest running and oldest museum in the US.
That's not to say that you should expect to go into an ancient building and look at really old exhibitions. Their current site is a relatively modern (albeit dull) building with a parking lot tucked in back off of its cross street. The display style is a bit dated, but I'd venture to say no more than a few decades old, tops. I've been to natural history museums in larger cities that have object removal tags in cases that are that old! (Note to those museums: I don't think that object will be returned anytime soon. How about you update your database and put something else in the case instead?)
As other reviewers have written, the museum takes you through the history of Charleston with an emphasis on its arguably most interesting years - early colonial times (and the establishment of the major farms and plantations) and war times (so yes, there are guns to look at and things that will keep you boyfriends/husbands/boy children interested). There's also taxidermy animals representing the wildlife of the region. Taxidermy freaks me out so I pretty much went through that hall with my hands over my face, but if you're interested in it you'll find that more enjoyable.
There are also temporary exhibitions -- when we were there, we saw one on the silver industry in Charleston and one on lamps and lighting fixtures in the city's history (not quite as strange as it sounds). The exhibition topic I found most interesting was one about the early days of the museum with a few dozen of its earliest collections objects on display and facsimiles of pages from their registration ledger books. It showed the humble beginnings and to me showed some collecting choices that might look a little questionable or odd by today's standards. An unintended emphasis, in my eyes anyways, showed that even if you found the holdings on the main historical exhibitions dry or dull, the museum has come a LONG way in focusing itself and preserving the very best specimens of the regional history that it could.
Overall, I'm glad we went, but unless they did a major reinstall in the near future or had a great special temporary exhibition up, I don't think a return trip would be in order. Check it out once, park in their own lot, and bring a sweater (it's chilly in there!).
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For a thorough history of Charleston visit the Charleston Museum. I would also recommend visiting one of the two historical houses for an extra fee.
Charleston is full of rich history - the kind you don't seen in modern California. It was interesting to see the history books come to life. I really enjoyed the fact that we went to the museum towards the end of the trip so I recognized names/places/sites that we had visited. Oh and there is a large whale skeleton. (and a polar bear....yea kind of out of place, haha)
Do not park at the visitor's center across the street, you will have to pay. Complimentary parking behind the museum.
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the charleston museum (though slightly dated) is a good place to begin a journey of this wonderful, history-rich town! there was a lot i did NOT know about the place, and this museum filled me in on everything from pirates to notable charlestonians to its role in the shaping of the us. i would reserve at least a couple hours to get through it.
note: park in back, not across the street!
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