24 Sights in Charleston, United States (with Map and Images)

Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island near Charleston, South Carolina to defend the region from a naval invasion. It was built after British forces captured and occupied Washington during the War of 1812 via a naval attack. The fort was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter occurred, sparking the American Civil War. It was severely damaged during the battle and left in ruins. Although there were some efforts at reconstruction after the war, the fort as conceived was never completed. Since the middle of the 20th century, Fort Sumter has been open to the public as part of the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, operated by the National Park Service.

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The South Carolina Aquarium, located in Charleston, South Carolina, opened on May 19, 2000, on the historic Charleston Harbor in the former location of the Anson Borough Homes, a public housing project that was closed over soil contamination and flooding concerns. It is home to more than ten thousand plants and animals including North American river otters, loggerhead sea turtles, alligators, great blue herons, owls, lined seahorses, jellyfish, pufferfish, green moray eels, horseshoe crabs, sea stars, pythons, and sharks. The largest exhibit in the zoo is the Great Ocean Tank, which extends from the first to the third floor of the Aquarium and is the deepest tank in North America ; it holds more than 385,000 US gallons (1,460,000 L) of water and contains more than 700 animals. The Aquarium also features a Touch Tank, where patrons may touch horseshoe crabs, Atlantic stingrays, and other marine animals.

Wikipedia: South Carolina Aquarium (EN), Website

Battery Gadsden is a historic artillery battery located at Sullivan's Island, Charleston County, South Carolina. It was built in 1903–1904, and is one of a series of batteries stretching from Fort Moultrie to the eastern end of Sullivan's Island. It was named after Christopher Gadsden. Until decommissioned in 1917, the concrete battery housed four, six inch guns. It measures approximately 377 feet long and 84 feet wide, with the front or ocean side of the battery at approximately 7 feet high. Battery Gadsden and its neighbor Battery Thomson provided fortification at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. The battery now houses the Edgar Allan Poe Branch of the Charleston County Public Library. It was built at the same time as Battery Jasper.

Wikipedia: Battery Gadsden (EN), Heritage Website

Battery Thomson is a historic artillery battery located at Sullivan's Island, Charleston County, South Carolina. It was built in 1906–1909, and is one of a series of batteries stretching from Fort Moultrie to the eastern end of Sullivan's Island. Until decommissioned in 1947, the concrete battery housed two, ten inch guns. It measures approximately 326 feet long and 84 feet wide, with the front or ocean side of the battery at approximately 10 feet high. Battery Thomson and its neighbor Battery Gadsden provided fortification at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. It is built in the same style of Battery Jasper.

Wikipedia: Battery Thomson (EN), Heritage Website

Charleston Baptist Temple is a historic Baptist church located at Charleston, West Virginia. It is a two-story, brick church with Georgian and Federal style details. It was designed by architect Ernest Flagg and constructed in 1924. It is composed of a central sanctuary block with matching wings and a rear addition constructed in 1955. The facade features a central tower, which contains the steeple. The spire is copper-clad and flares out to cover an open belfry with decorated engaged Corinthian columns and arched openings. Directly below the belfry is a baluster area above the clock portion of the tower.

Wikipedia: Charleston Baptist Temple (EN)

Elizabeth Harden Gilmore House, also known as Minotti-Gilmore House or Harden and Harden Funeral Home, is a historic home and national historic district located at Charleston, West Virginia. It is a 2+1⁄2-story, Classical Revival brick detached residential dwelling built by 1900 on an approximately one-half acre lot in a business area of town. It features a columned portico and has undergone some alteration and deterioration. It was the home and location of a funeral home operated by Elizabeth Gilmore, a prominent African American in the Kanawha Valley.

Wikipedia: Elizabeth Harden Gilmore House (EN)

U.S. Coast Guard Historic District is a national historic district located at Sullivan's Island, Charleston County, South Carolina. The district encompasses three contributing buildings and one contributing structure on Sullivan's Island. The property was established as a life saving station in 1891. The district contains the station house/administration building, boathouse, garage, and signal tower, which are laid out in an L-shaped court loosely organized around the bunker/sighting station. Also on the property is the non-contributing Charleston Light.

Wikipedia: U.S. Coast Guard Historic District (EN)

Sterrett Brothers' Dry Goods Store is a historic commercial structure located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was built about 1890 in what has become known as the "Victorian Block" of Charleston. The building originally had three floors with a storefront on the first floor. Sometime after 1898, but before 1917, a fourth story was added to the building. Since its construction by the Sterrett Brothers, it has been occupied by Sacks Shoe Store, J.C. Penney Company, the Dondale Furniture Company, and most recently a Charleston-based Law firm.

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The Heyward-Washington House is a historic house museum at 87 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Built in 1772, it was home to Thomas Heyward, Jr., a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and was where George Washington stayed during his 1791 visit to the city. It is now owned and operated by the Charleston Museum. Furnished for the late 18th century, the house includes a collection of Charleston-made furniture. Other structures include the carriage shed and 1740s kitchen building.

Wikipedia: Heyward-Washington House (EN)

St. Philip's Church is an historic church at 142 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Its National Historic Landmark description states: "Built in 1836, this stuccoed brick church features an imposing tower designed in the Wren-Gibbs tradition. Three Tuscan pedimented porticoes contribute to this design to make a building of the highest quality and sophistication." On November 7, 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.

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Charleston Light, also known as Sullivan's Island Lighthouse, is located on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, which is the northern entrance to Charleston Harbor. Designed by Thomas Sullivan. The lighthouse was erected to replace the defunct Morris Island Light on Morris Island, which was at risk of being destroyed by erosion, but which remains standing and was stabilized in 2010. Construction of the Charleston Light was started in 1960, and it was first lit on June 15, 1962.

Wikipedia: Charleston Light (EN), Heritage Website

The J.S. Sweeney Store, Barn, Livery and Hall were a trio of historically important commercial buildings on Vermont Route 105 in East Charleston, Vermont. Dating as far back as 1860, the general store, bank barn, and combination livery and community hall have been a center of community activity since their construction. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Of the three buildings, only the store is still standing.

Wikipedia: J. S. Sweeney Store, Barn, Livery and Hall (EN), Heritage Website

The Gibbes Museum of Art, formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, is an art museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in the Charleston Historic District, in 1905. The Gibbes houses a premier collection of over 10,000 works of fine art, principally American works, many with a connection to Charleston or the South.

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Washington Square is a park in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. It is located behind City Hall at the corner of Meeting Street and Broad Street in the Charleston Historic District. The planting beds and red brick walks were installed in April 1881. It was known as City Hall Park until October 19, 1881, when it was renamed in honor of George Washington. The new name was painted over the gates in December 1881.

Wikipedia: Washington Square (Charleston) (EN)

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.

Wikipedia: St. Michael's Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina) (EN)

The Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is a cathedral church and a minor basilica located in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. Along with the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling it is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. The parish complex is a contributing property in the Downtown Charleston Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wikipedia: Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (EN)

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, colloquially 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.

Wikipedia: Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (EN), Website

Woodrums' Building, also known as Woodrum Home Outfitting Co. building, is a historic commercial building located at Charleston, West Virginia, United States. It is a six-story commercial building located in the central business district of Charleston. The property consists of an original commercial structure built in 1916 and a rear addition built in 1937.

Wikipedia: Woodrums' Building (EN)

The Fireproof Building, also known as the County Records Building, is located at 100 Meeting Street, at the northwest corner of Washington Square, in Charleston, South Carolina. Completed in 1827, it was the most fire-resistant building in America at the time, and is believed to be the oldest fire-resistant building in America today.

Wikipedia: Fireproof Building (EN)

St. John's Episcopal Church is an historic Episcopal church located at 1105 Quarrier Street in Charleston, West Virginia, in the United States. On November 2, 1989, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was also listed as a contributing property in the Downtown Charleston Historic District in 2006.

Wikipedia: St. John's Episcopal Church (Charleston, West Virginia) (EN)

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.

Wikipedia: White Point Garden (EN)

Loewenstein and Sons Hardware Building, also known as the Loewenstein Building or Rite Aid Building, is a historic commercial structure located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was designed by the Columbus, Ohio architectural firm of Yost & Packard.

Wikipedia: Loewenstein and Sons Hardware Building (EN)

Hazel Parker Playground is a public park in Charleston, South Carolina named after Hazel V. Parker in 1977. Hazel Parker was the recreation supervisor at the playground starting in 1942. The playground was formerly known as the East Bay Playground.

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Cannon Park is a 2.7 acre public park located in peninsular Charleston, South Carolina. It is bound to the north by Calhoun St. and to the south by Bennett St. To the east and west are Rutledge Ave. and Ashley Ave. respectively.

Wikipedia: Cannon Park (Charleston, SC) (EN)