7. Citizens & Southern National Bank   
50 Broad Street
circa 1798

The Citizens and Southern National Bank of South Carolina is the second oldest building constructed as a bank in the United States and reflects Charleston’s financial and institutional history, as well as commercial architecture of late 18th century. Constructed in 1798 for the Bank of South Carolina, the two-story building is T-shaped, with a pedimented projecting center pavilion and refined architectural details. Keystone arches, window lintels, and a belt course are all executed in white marble.

8. City Hall   
80 Broad Street
circa 1800-1801

City Hall stands on the location of a beef market established in the 1730s. When a fire wiped it out in 1796, the decision was made to put a bank building up on the site. Gabriel Manigault, the so-called “gentleman architect,” designed this handsome building. The bank closed in 1811 and by 1818 City Hall was moved in and remains there today. The building houses an extensive collection of rare and original portraits: George Washington, Lafayette, and James Monroe. The building was constructed in 1811 by local carpenters Edward Magrath and Joseph Nicholson, and mason Andrew Gordon.

9. The Robert Mills Fireproof Building   
100 Meeting Street
circa 1826

When completed in 1826 this building was the first structure in the U.S. designed to be fireproof. Vital records were kept inside its thick inflammable walls to insure their survival in case of a fire. Charlestonian Robert Mills, designer of this building, also designed the Washington Monument and the Treasury Building on the $10 bill. This Palladian-style building boasts north and south facing Doric porticos. The interior holds a cantilevered stone stair ascending three stories without any visible means of support. One of the largest archives and research libraries in the state, the South Carolina Historical Society, is housed in the building.

10. St. Michael's Episcopal Church   
80 Meeting Street
circa 1761

This is the oldest church building in the city of Charleston. Construction started in 1752 and was finished in 1761. The clock and bells of the church were shipped over in 1764 from England. Counting this shipment along with other voyages involving theft and repair, the bells have made this ocean voyage five times. George Washington and later Robert E. Lee worshipped in the church at pew 43. Two signers of the Constitution, John Rutledge and Charles Pinckney, are buried on St. Michael’s grounds.

11. Old Post Office & Postal Museum   
83 Broad Street
circa 1886

After the earthquake of 1886 destroyed the old police station, Charleston erected on its ruins the Post Office Building. This elaborately detailed building, located at the “Four Corners of Law’ at Meeting and Broad Streets, is the oldest continuously operated post office in the Carolinas. Today it houses the Postal Museum, located in a special room, which contains exhibits and artifacts about Charleston’s colonial postal history.

12. Charleston County Court House   
84 Borad Street
circa 1792

After a fire destroyed the first South Carolina state house on this site in 1788, the location was designated for the current court house. An amateur architect and Judge, William Drayton, oversaw its reconstruction. The third floor was added later in 1883-1884. The north extension was added in 1941. After being heavily damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the building underwent a multimillion-dollar restoration and reopened for business in 2001.