Old Exchange - Customs, Constitution and Captives

A stop on Charleston Historic District Walk, a free self-guided tour.

The stately Georgian building at the foot of Broad Street is the Exchange, completed in 1771 as the colony's customs house and a meeting place for merchants. It was designed by William Rigby Naylor and built by the brothers Peter and John Horlbeck on the site of the Half-Moon Battery, part of the walls that once ringed the town.

Few buildings have seen more. During the Revolution the British turned the ground floor into a military prison, the Provost, holding patriots, soldiers, townspeople and enslaved people. In 1788 South Carolina's convention ratified the U.S. Constitution here, and in 1791 the city honored George Washington with a banquet, a concert and a ball.

It was also a place where human beings were sold. Between the Revolution and the Civil War, the Exchange and the open lot on its north side were the city's most common sites for public slave auctions, and a city marker placed in 2016 now says so. The building is a museum today; check its website for hours.

Getting here: Walk west along Vendue Range to East Bay Street, turn left and continue a few minutes south to where Broad Street meets East Bay.

Did you know?: In his diary, Washington noted that on May 4, 1791, he attended an elegant dancing assembly at the Exchange and counted 256 handsomely dressed ladies in the room.

Photo op: Walk a few steps up Broad Street and turn around to capture the whole front of the Exchange closing the end of the street.

More on Wikipedia: Exchange and Provost · Atlantic slave trade

Old Exchange - Customs, Constitution and Captives

Stops on this tour