South Carolina: Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon Charleston

This was one of my favorite buildings in Charleston. This is not one of those beautiful, romantic houses of the rice or cotton barons. This building just reeks of history. Charleston was one of three walled cities in North America, along with Quebec and St. Augustine, Florida. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, the town quickly outgrew the original walls and they were torn down. One piece that still exists is in the lowest level of the Old Exchange. This is where your tour begins.

The first part of the tour is guided. Tours depart from the lobby every 20 minutes. A live guide, as well as animatronic guides, narrates the tour. Frankly, the animatronic figures are a lot more entertaining than the live guide. He seemed bored at best. Some of the animatronic figures are pirates. This is your opportunity to learn about the history of Charleston and how they finally rid themselves of the scourge of piracy. You will also get to meet Stede Bonnet the Gentleman Pirate. You will also find out how gunpowder was stored in the basement so well that the British never found it during their occupation.

After walking through the vignettes, your guide leads you back to several cases of artifacts mostly related to the pirates. You then take the elevator back up stairs to begin your self-guided tour. We, however, were lucky enough to meet Tony on the second floor. He was very knowledgeable about the history of this building, so we got a bit of a private tour. The Old Exchange is a very historically significant building. It was here that the Charleston patriot Isaac Haynes spent his last night, a prisoner of the British. 

The Royal Custom House was a goal during the British occupation of Charleston, and Cornwallis had his office here. In 1791, George Washington danced with the women of Charleston in the second floor Great Hall. Rumor has it that he danced with 200 ladies, not bad for a 61-year-old.

My favorite display though was The DAR Room, which is on the first floor Here you can learn the story of the Charleston heroine Rebecca Motte. The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution bears her name, and it is to them that the restoration of this building can be attributed. When it was scheduled for sale in 1912, they managed to acquire the deed and save the building.