The Powder Magazine
The Powder Magazine
4
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
About
The Powder Magazine is South Carolina's oldest public building. It was constructed in 1713 for gunpowder storage and now stands as a colonial military history museum.
Duration: < 1 hour
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
139 reviews
Excellent
54
Very good
57
Average
24
Poor
3
Terrible
1
Tanyajn1
Sterling, VA231 contributions
Jan 2023 • Couples
A neat little piece of history. The architecture is pretty cool; very reminiscent of Roman buildings with the converging arches. Be sure to check out the Old Exchange & Provost. They really should go hand in hand being built about the same time with similar building styles. We maybe spent 20 minutes, if that. So just a short visit.
Written January 29, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Laurel M
Calgary, Canada843 contributions
Feb 2024 • Couples
We stopped in to the Powder Magazine after going on an historical walking tour. It’s a little off the beaten track but easy to find near the corner of Church and Cumberland streets. Just look for the orange roof.
What a great little museum. Dennis was on hand to tell us about the purpose, construction and uses of the building throughout the years. How about storing 2100 bottles of Madeira wine that won’t turn to vinegar in the South Carolina humidity. And an ingenious build that would collapse in on itself if the gun powder were to ignite. There’s lots to see here and we found this quite fascinating.
The Cumberland St parking garage is right outside it’s doors. Pop in for a visit.
What a great little museum. Dennis was on hand to tell us about the purpose, construction and uses of the building throughout the years. How about storing 2100 bottles of Madeira wine that won’t turn to vinegar in the South Carolina humidity. And an ingenious build that would collapse in on itself if the gun powder were to ignite. There’s lots to see here and we found this quite fascinating.
The Cumberland St parking garage is right outside it’s doors. Pop in for a visit.
Written February 10, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Patt4411
Pittsburgh, PA207 contributions
Mar 2023
A neat little piece of history. Other than just reading the info plaques take time to talk to wonderful docents. We had a very interesting talk yesterday with Mitchell, details of the weaponry, and the cannons. Kids would find it interesting too!
Written March 3, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brian S
Sumter, SC1,224 contributions
Mar 2023 • Family
Bought a membership on line and its definitely worth it. Enduring goes to help the museum. Ben here before but this was my daughter's first visit. They offer a very good gift shop where we bought a replica flint lock pistol and several other pirate related artifacts. The accrual museum offers a pretty good assortment of exhibits and Attractions. They have a small scavenger hunt history Edition which the kids have to read things to answer several historical questions. Very well done and very much worth the small price. A really cool place to visit.
Written March 27, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sunshine766854
14 contributions
Jun 2022 • Couples
Our walking tour guide pointed out this landmark (The Powder Magazine) on our tour. We went back the next day and was pleasantly surprised at the wealth of information in this little museum. The curators were super informative and you could also participate in a scavenger hunt. This is definitely worth your time!
Written June 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BosKat
Lincoln, RI149 contributions
Feb 2023 • Couples
A small site in the city with amazing history, and a very impressive tour. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the powder magazine played an important role in colonial America and the revolutionary war. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and really brought the history to life. The George III era cannons outside were really cool to see. A must see site in Charleston for history buffs.
Written February 6, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WC-Travelers-75
West Chester, PA2,192 contributions
Oct 2019
Worth swinging by to check out the building. We poked our head inside but not much to see. I don't recall paying a fee to enter.
5 minutes max.
It was also on our walking tour of historic district.
5 minutes max.
It was also on our walking tour of historic district.
Written May 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
moviegirl35
Chantilly, VA31 contributions
Mar 2022 • Family
What a great little find! Excellent hands on experience for young children. They interact through a scavenger hunt, which turns history into an exciting game. The demonstrations are great and informative. Highly recommend stopping to visit when in Charleston.
Written March 31, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
William E
Mount Pleasant, SC374 contributions
May 2023 • Couples
Great piece of history in Charleston from 1700s! Not many powder magazines from the 1700s around to look at. the displays inside are pretty cool also. A nice piece of history you can add to your day and see in an hour or two.
Written August 5, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MiouMiou
West Long Branch, NJ1,073 contributions
This building is 300 years old, and was originally used as a storage building for loose gunpowder. It is now a very small museum, basically just one room. We enjoyed it for the historic significance, the interesting artifacts inside, and the enthusiastic explanations of the exhibits given by one of the docents there. One of the surprising things he explained to us was that the building was constructed with three feet thick walls, and designed in a way that the building would implode in case of an explosion, not unusual in a place where loose gunpowder was stored.
It will take you maybe 20 minutes to see this little museum, but it is worth a visit if you are on a walking tour and happen to pass by. The museum was free, and there is a small gift shop with colonial type toys that would be of interest to children.
It will take you maybe 20 minutes to see this little museum, but it is worth a visit if you are on a walking tour and happen to pass by. The museum was free, and there is a small gift shop with colonial type toys that would be of interest to children.
Written July 17, 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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