Free previewStop 2 of Haunted Charleston Walking Tour
The Prisoners Nobody Could Name
You're standing at the corner of East Bay and Broad, and the pale two-story building with the high brick basement is the Old Exchange. Look at its front, facing up Broad Street: three round arches at street level, tall columns above, and on top a small cupola. Keep that cupola in mind. Then let your eyes drop to the basement, down near the pavement. That's the part the ghost tours come for.
South Carolina's colonial government finished this building in 1771 as a custom house and a place to do business. Within a few years it belonged to the Revolution. Confiscated British tea was stored here in 1774, and the colony's revolutionary leaders met inside. Then, in 1780, the British captured Charleston, and the building changed sides. Redcoats used it as a barracks, and they turned the basement into a military prison.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 2 of Haunted Charleston Walking Tour (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
