The Charleston Museum

It's like 3 museums in one with history, natural history, and a textile museum. There's even a small kids section too.
I found the history section most fascinating. I think the curators of the museum did a good job in presenting the history 'as is'. Did you know there was an earthquake in Charleston?
The natural history section was also awesome. The giant sloth fossil was scary and it's amazing how mighty a sloth could be.
I spent about an hour and a half here and avoided a passing rain storm.
It took about 20m to walk here from the French quarter but it was well worth the walk and the $15 fee.

Keeping Charleston's history for many, many years......

You can smell the history


Love this Museum..... first visited in the 1960s

City museums have the unique opportunity to be the official story teller of the town, but along with the duty to present the history, they also have the responsibility to educate.

The Charleston Museum does a great job in many areas: from the cruel hunting of the whale to the ruthless oppression of slaves, to the first gun fire of Civil War... great details were given to these events. Artifacts from photos, garments, to weaponry help paint the pictures.

But they could do a better job in education - from animal and nature protection/preservation to anti racism - a lot of opportunities are hidden in the history. The exhibits could have been more provocative and audience-engaging; instead I found them a bit plain and dull. True to the history, nevertheless, but not enough to complete with museums that stage a more vivid presentation with stronger voice and audience participation.

The natural history part of the museum did a better job. Maybe it's easier to be apolitical and focus on science?

Overall an okay museum. Though most exhibits are passive, they are nicely designed with good amount of information.

Hanging their directors photos on the wall seemed a bit odd. I'm sure the directors worked very hard; museums are tough to run these days. But would the visitors really care?

Since it's the only city museum in town, it is, nonetheless, a great source of knowledge for those who are curious about the city.

We had a great time at the museum. It is across the street from the visitors center. They have a great kids area. My done loved dressing up and playing checkers. They have historical and natural history exhibits. I enjoyed seeing the ancient ground sloth. Next time we would get combo tickets for the houses.

This museum, supposedly the first one in North America, was a fanatic visit.

The museum has all kinds of authentic artifacts and archaeological finds dating back hundreds and thousands of years. They had some excellent pieces from the revolutionary and civil wars. There was a lot of great Charleston history as well.

There was parking on site. You have to pay on a phone application, and they validate your parking inside.

The museum was a quick hour and a half experience. I'd count on 2-3 hours if you really want to read the exhibits and take everything in.

I'd definitely return if I'm in Charleston again.

Fabulous. Has so much history, interesting artifacts and fun kids' area that's good for adults, too. I really enjoyed my two hours there. I purchased the three stop ticket, which included two historic houses. The Heyward-Washington House that President Washington stayed in for several days is a mile down the street, which I walked to. Jude gave a wonderful tour. This included a garden, and slave quarters with kitchen. The Manigault House is across the street from the museum. Both home owners had many plantations. Their furniture was beautiful. Now, in the museum there is an elevator. Restrooms are on both floors. The historic houses do not have elevators to the second floors.

Absolutely worth a few hours to tour. This museum has a solid design to walk you through the political history, natural history, ancient history, and self history of Charleston. It helps put each era into context with a good amount of detail on events and impact with personal artifacts to deepen the story. The price is very reasonable and while the temporary exhibits may be a bit sparse, they do show a lesser seen aspect of everyday life in Charleston. It's across the street from the main visitors center and is a stop on the free Carta green shuttle bus.

Kids may not appreciate the full museum, but the dinosaur and specific kid activities areas will definitely have their attention.

Free parking in Zone 72! Validation at the kiosk inside. Modest exhibits but you have to see slave Dave's impressive pottery and just for kicks the mule's booties among many, many other items.

The Charleston Museum was supposedly the first museum in the US, and it focused on the history of the early city. The curators had made the most of the space by packing in several exhibits into one floor of pieces. There was a lot to see, but there was also a lot to read...There were plaques for even the smallest components of each exhibit, and there was no way to read everything. It gave us something to do to pass san hour or two during a weekday afternoon, though.

This was my first stop after breakfast upon arrival in Charleston. It was...cute. I learned about...well...slavery. I don't have to visit again, not because it wasn't informative, there just wasn't enough history involved.