Located upstairs at 188 Meeting Street in Historic Downtown Charleston, South Carolina
Home of the Confederate Museum
When the flag is out, we're open! Open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11-4.
(Please email [email protected] to view the museum by appointment)
Admission:
Donations accepted through mail to Confederate Museum, P.O. Box 20997, Charleston, SC 29413 or through this link: https://square.link/u/A06OLSp9?src=sms
Come see our new layout and flags conserved. We're excited to see y'all!
Announcing our new Friends Program! Please click on the link below to become a friend of the museum today!
Home of the Confederate Museum
When the flag is out, we're open! Open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11-4.
(Please email [email protected] to view the museum by appointment)
Admission:
- $7.00 for Adults
- $3.00 for 6 - 12 yrs
- Military, Veterans (Not Dependents) and 5 and under are free
Donations accepted through mail to Confederate Museum, P.O. Box 20997, Charleston, SC 29413 or through this link: https://square.link/u/A06OLSp9?src=sms
Come see our new layout and flags conserved. We're excited to see y'all!
Announcing our new Friends Program! Please click on the link below to become a friend of the museum today!
| Museum Friends Announcement |
The Museum at Market Hall
HOME OF THE CONFEDERATE MUSEUM
The site of this building was originally occupied by the Masonic Hall, which was completely destroyed by fire in 1838. Market Hall was built in 1841 with Edward Brickell White as architect. It is a copy of the Temple of the Wingless Victory in Athens, Greece. Money flowed freely in Charleston at that time and materials for the new building were brought by water from as far away as New York, Connecticut and Italy. Its original purpose was to be the “head building” or front and entrance to the six blocks of roofed market space that are attached to Market Hall and run under the building and all the way to the Cooper River. This was a farmer’s market where fruits, meats, vegetables and fish were sold - no slaves as is often incorrectly thought. Spaces rented for $1.00 per day or $2.00 if the space included a marble slab to keep meat cool. Upstairs where the museum is located was the territory of the market commissioners with two tiny rooms for transacting the business of running the market and one very large elaborate hall with one gas chandelier where they held meetings and elegant social functions. The building continued to be used in this way until 1861. When the War Between the States started in the Spring of 1861, Market Hall was suddenly needed for a very different purpose. Thousands of young men were pouring into Charleston to become Confederate soldiers and defend the South. They came on horseback, on trains and on foot, arriving both day and night from all over South Carolina. In their diaries many speak of hearing the guns at Fort Sumter as they came into town. Their immediate destination was Market Hall. There they were given supplies, weapons and their orders. It was there in the building where many of these young men had danced not long before they became soldiers. In 1894, the Charleston Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy was founded. They immediately began to collect relics and the collection grew quickly. By 1898 this group of ladies became Charleston Chapter #4, United Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1899 the reunion of the United Confederate Veterans was to be held in Charleston. The men decided to help these ladies form a permanent Confederate Museum in Charleston. A call was sent out asking former soldiers to bring their war-time possessions to the reunion for donation to the new museum. The enthusiastic response showed that a large building would be needed to house the collection. Since the Mayor and the city councilmen were all former Confederate soldiers, it was only natural that they selected Market Hall for this purpose. The same building where they had gone to become young soldiers became the place they brought their relics to be preserved for the future. The Confederate Museum opened here in 1899. These relics remained in the loving care of the ladies of Charleston Chapter #4, U.D.C. just where the veterans themselves had placed them with their original handwritten identification cards until they became the victim of Hurricane Hugo in 1989 when the beautiful building was severely damaged. The relics are owned by Charleston Chapter #4 United Daughters of the Confederacy. They had to be removed from the building, dried, treated for preservation and put in storage. Some were slightly torn and water stained, but all the relics did survive. The building Market Hall, is owned by the City of Charleston. It has been leased by the Charleston Chapter #4, U.D.C. since 1899. Complete renovation of the building was finished by the City of Charleston in 2002, the same year a new ninety-nine year lease agreement was made between the City of Charleston and Charleston Chapter #4. They were put on display once again, and the Confederate Museum reopened back home in Market Hall on February 14, 2003. Written by June Murray Wells
The site of this building was originally occupied by the Masonic Hall, which was completely destroyed by fire in 1838. Market Hall was built in 1841 with Edward Brickell White as architect. It is a copy of the Temple of the Wingless Victory in Athens, Greece. Money flowed freely in Charleston at that time and materials for the new building were brought by water from as far away as New York, Connecticut and Italy. Its original purpose was to be the “head building” or front and entrance to the six blocks of roofed market space that are attached to Market Hall and run under the building and all the way to the Cooper River. This was a farmer’s market where fruits, meats, vegetables and fish were sold - no slaves as is often incorrectly thought. Spaces rented for $1.00 per day or $2.00 if the space included a marble slab to keep meat cool. Upstairs where the museum is located was the territory of the market commissioners with two tiny rooms for transacting the business of running the market and one very large elaborate hall with one gas chandelier where they held meetings and elegant social functions. The building continued to be used in this way until 1861. When the War Between the States started in the Spring of 1861, Market Hall was suddenly needed for a very different purpose. Thousands of young men were pouring into Charleston to become Confederate soldiers and defend the South. They came on horseback, on trains and on foot, arriving both day and night from all over South Carolina. In their diaries many speak of hearing the guns at Fort Sumter as they came into town. Their immediate destination was Market Hall. There they were given supplies, weapons and their orders. It was there in the building where many of these young men had danced not long before they became soldiers. In 1894, the Charleston Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy was founded. They immediately began to collect relics and the collection grew quickly. By 1898 this group of ladies became Charleston Chapter #4, United Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1899 the reunion of the United Confederate Veterans was to be held in Charleston. The men decided to help these ladies form a permanent Confederate Museum in Charleston. A call was sent out asking former soldiers to bring their war-time possessions to the reunion for donation to the new museum. The enthusiastic response showed that a large building would be needed to house the collection. Since the Mayor and the city councilmen were all former Confederate soldiers, it was only natural that they selected Market Hall for this purpose. The same building where they had gone to become young soldiers became the place they brought their relics to be preserved for the future. The Confederate Museum opened here in 1899. These relics remained in the loving care of the ladies of Charleston Chapter #4, U.D.C. just where the veterans themselves had placed them with their original handwritten identification cards until they became the victim of Hurricane Hugo in 1989 when the beautiful building was severely damaged. The relics are owned by Charleston Chapter #4 United Daughters of the Confederacy. They had to be removed from the building, dried, treated for preservation and put in storage. Some were slightly torn and water stained, but all the relics did survive. The building Market Hall, is owned by the City of Charleston. It has been leased by the Charleston Chapter #4, U.D.C. since 1899. Complete renovation of the building was finished by the City of Charleston in 2002, the same year a new ninety-nine year lease agreement was made between the City of Charleston and Charleston Chapter #4. They were put on display once again, and the Confederate Museum reopened back home in Market Hall on February 14, 2003. Written by June Murray Wells