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Walking tours in Charleston and Savannah

Walking tours in Charleston and Savannah

The nearest story is usually a few minutes away, with routes designed to be walked in any order.

  • The map sorts stops by distance

    Forty-three stops across Charleston and Savannah appear with the closest location first.

  • Audio playback for every stop

    The phone reads the text aloud at a single tap.

  • Every stop lists its sources

    Each page displays the historic newspapers and archive papers used to write the story.

Charleston walking tour

About 2.2 miles on foot.

  1. Forty-nine pirates were hanged at White Point in 1718
  2. Miles Brewton House spikes remain from the 1822 city panic
  3. Cabbage Row is the setting for Porgy and Bess
  4. Rainbow Row merchant houses began as waterfront shops
  5. Old Exchange building stands at the foot of Broad Street
  6. Broad Street hosted the country’s largest domestic slave auctions
  7. Judge Waring’s dissent at the federal courthouse
  8. St Michael’s Church houses eight bells that crossed the Atlantic five times
  9. Chalmers Street has the longest stretch of cobblestones in the city
  10. Ryan’s Mart at 6 Chalmers Street
  11. Dock Street Theatre opened in 1736 as America’s first playhouse
  12. Institute Hall stood here when South Carolina left the Union
  13. Philadelphia Alley became a public street after the fire of 1810
  14. Powder Magazine was built in 1713 to store gunpowder
  15. Charleston City Market remains active due to a historic deed clause

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Savannah walking tour

About 3.1 miles on foot.

  1. SS Savannah crossed the Atlantic in 1819
  2. First African Baptist Church was built by its enslaved members
  3. Haitian soldiers fought for American liberty at the 1779 Siege of Savannah
  4. Ellis Square replaced a car park after fifty-six years
  5. Cotton Exchange prices shaped world trade from 1887
  6. African American Monument depicts a family standing on broken chains
  7. Florence Martus greeted every ship in Savannah for forty-four years
  8. Silk production failed here before the colony abandoned its original laws
  9. Tomochichi negotiated the treaty that allowed the settlement of Georgia
  10. Slave quarters survive at the Owens-Thomas House
  11. Colonial Park Cemetery closed to burials in 1853
  12. James Wilde died in a duel on the riverbank
  13. Green-Meldrim House served as Sherman’s headquarters in 1864
  14. Congregation Mickve Israel holds a Torah scroll from 1450
  15. Casimir Pulaski lies buried beneath this marble monument

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Every stop, and the one nearest you

African American Monument depicts a family standing on broken chainsA bronze family stands together atop a set of broken chains on granite.Augusta Avenue marks the largest slave sale in United States historyA historical marker stands beside the road in this residential neighbourhood.Broad Street hosted the country’s largest domestic slave auctionsTwo historical markers stand on this ordinary block near the open ground of the Exchange.Cabbage Row is the setting for Porgy and BessTwo three-storey buildings joined by an arched passage leading to a courtyard.Casimir Pulaski lies buried beneath this marble monumentA white marble figure of Liberty stands atop this tall column in the square.Chalmers Street has the longest stretch of cobblestones in the cityRounded river stones pave a narrow lane past a small pink house.Charleston City Market remains active due to a historic deed clauseA columned hall stands before low brick sheds with a high-water mark from 1989.Charleston hospital strike of 1969Modern hospital buildings line Ashley Avenue.Cigar Factory workers created the anthem of the civil rights movementA five-storey brick building now used for shops and offices.Colonial Park Cemetery closed to burials in 1853Headstones hang mounted flat against the long brick wall on the eastern side.Congregation Mickve Israel holds a Torah scroll from 1450Pointed arches, stone buttresses, and a rose window define this building on the square.Cotton Exchange prices shaped world trade from 1887A red brick building stands on iron pillars directly above the street.Dock Street Theatre opened in 1736 as America’s first playhouseA wrought-iron balcony hangs over the pavement above brownstone columns.Earthquake bolts hold brick walls togetherCast-iron lion heads are bolted to the brick face of this building.Ellis Square replaced a car park after fifty-six yearsA fountain and live oaks stand on flat paving in this open square.First African Baptist Church was built by its enslaved membersA building of locally made Savannah Grey brick faces the west side of Franklin Square.Florence Martus greeted every ship in Savannah for forty-four yearsA bronze woman and her dog stand on a stone base, facing the river.Forty-nine pirates were hanged at White Point in 1718Live oaks, a bandstand, and cannon on the grass facing the harbour.Gadsden’s Wharf served as the sole landing site for enslaved people from 1806 to 1808The International African American Museum, raised on columns above the waterfront.Green-Meldrim House served as Sherman’s headquarters in 1864Grey stucco walls, pointed windows, and a wraparound ironwork veranda define this Gothic Revival home.H. L. Hunley sank a warship in 1864A low, modern building stands on the old Navy base with a car park ahead.Haitian soldiers fought for American liberty at the 1779 Siege of SavannahBronze soldiers and a drummer boy stand on a stone base.Institute Hall stood here when South Carolina left the UnionTwo historical markers hang on the front of a later building.James Pierpont wrote Jingle Bells while serving as music director hereA white timber church stands on the corner of Troup Square.James Wilde died in a duel on the riverbankA table tomb stands among the markers, bearing an inscription dedicated to the young officer.Jenkins Orphanage band members played here to fund their homeA brick building designed by Robert Mills stands on this corner of Franklin Street.Judge Waring’s dissent at the federal courthouseA statue of a judge stands before this 1896 Renaissance Revival courthouse.Miles Brewton House spikes remain from the 1822 city panicA row of outward-facing iron spikes runs along the top of a fence.Old Exchange building stands at the foot of Broad StreetA brick and stone building with a small dome facing the water.Philadelphia Alley became a public street after the fire of 1810A narrow lane of brick walls stretches between Queen Street and Cumberland Street.Philip Simmons’s Heart Gate stands at 91 Anson StreetA wrought-iron gate with a heart at its center opens into a topiary garden.Powder Magazine was built in 1713 to store gunpowderA low brick building with a pyramid tile roof sits set back from the street.Rainbow Row merchant houses began as waterfront shopsThirteen joined houses stand here painted in shades of pink, peach, blue, green and yellow.Robert Smalls sailed the Planter to freedom from this harbourFort Sumter sits in the harbour beyond the seawall.Ryan’s Mart at 6 Chalmers StreetA narrow brick building with three arches stands on a street paved with ballast stones.Savannah sit-ins at Levy’s Department Store led to citywide desegregationLarge arched windows line the ground floor of this brick building on the corner.Silk production failed here before the colony abandoned its original lawsA metal marker stands on the east side of Reynolds Square near the trees.Slave quarters survive at the Owens-Thomas HouseA two-storey brick building sits across the garden behind the stone mansion.SS Savannah crossed the Atlantic in 1819Large cargo ships and tankers pass this spot on the river today.St Michael’s Church houses eight bells that crossed the Atlantic five timesA white church with a tall steeple on the corner.The Citadel began as a weapons store built to suppress a risingA heavy stone building stands on the north side of this open green square.Tomochichi negotiated the treaty that allowed the settlement of GeorgiaA rough granite boulder sits in the square's south-east corner.Unitarian graveyard grounds maintain a wild botanical designWildflowers and vines grow around headstones beneath a four-storey Gothic Revival church tower.

Photograph: Daniel Mayer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons