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Charleston City MarketPhoto: Warren LeMay from Covington, KY, United States (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons
Walking tour · Charleston

Charleston Walking Tour: Rainbow Row to the Battery

Markets, mansions and the harbor that witnessed war

1 h 20 min8 stops2.4 mi

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Stop 1 is free, no sign-up. All 8 for $4.99, refunded within 7 days if it isn't for you.

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The 8 stops

  1. 1Start hereFree

    Charleston City Market

    A Market That Has to Stay Forever

    Free sample · 2:51
    0:002:51

    You're standing on Meeting Street in front of Market Hall, the temple-fronted building at the head of the Charleston City Market. Look up past the double flight of stairs and the four columns to the band of carving just under the roof. Between the grooved blocks you'll find rams' heads, alternating with the skulls of oxen. They're not decoration for its own sake. They're a sign that once meant one thing: meat for sale here.

    This market began with a gift that came with strings. In 1788, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a Revolutionary War general, and other landowners along an old canal gave the city a strip of reclaimed marsh running from the harbor docks to Meeting Street. The terms were strict. Charleston had to lay out a Market Street and build market buildings within two years, and use the land as a market in perpetuity. The donors kept the right to take the land back if it ever stopped being one.

    So the city built. The first sheds went up around 1790 and crept toward the water, and by 1806 they filled most of the strip. Beef, fish and produce had their own sections. Much of that food came from plantations worked by enslaved people, and the wealth behind the whole city rested on them. But one thing worth knowing: people were not auctioned here. That's a common mix-up. The sales happened at places like the Old Slave Mart, your next stop.

    The market was also where working Charlestonians gathered to drink and play games. And it had a cleanup crew. Vultures picked over the meat scraps, and they were protected by law, still a common sight into the 20th century.

    In 1838 a fire destroyed the old headhouse, and local architect Edward B. White designed this one, finished in 1841, borrowing from ancient Greek and Roman temples. A temple, in other words, to the butcher's trade. Its upstairs room later became a recruiting office when the Civil War broke out, and since 1899 the United Daughters of the Confederacy have kept a Confederate museum up there.

    Here's the turn. By 1900 the food sellers were drifting away, and the City Council voted in 1904 to tear down the eastern sheds and plant an ornamental park. Business leaders wanted a freight station instead. Preservationists pushed back, and in 1905 the council settled on a compromise: whitewash the eastern sheds and keep them as a covered walkway until someone thought of a better use.

    Someone did. Walk inside and the sheds still run four blocks, about 1,240 feet, all the way to East Bay Street. Today you'll find more than 300 vendors, including Gullah women weaving sweetgrass baskets by hand. It's still a market, just as Pinckney's deed demands.

    When you're ready, walk south about nine minutes to the Old Slave Mart, the auction gallery that this market is so often mistaken for.

The whole walk

8 stories across Charleston

1 h 20 min · 8 stops · 2.4 mi

Starts at Charleston City Market and ends at The Battery.

  • Plays right here in your browser, or in the app
  • One purchase for your group, on up to 4 phones
  • Refunded within 7 days if it isn't for you

Plan your walk

    How long

    About 1 h 20 min for 2.4 mi with all 8 stories. Going inside the sites adds time.

    Start and finish

    Starts at Charleston City Market and ends at The Battery.

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    Questions people ask

    Can you do your own walking tour of Charleston?

    Yes. This walk plays a story at each of eight stops, from the City Market to the Battery, past Rainbow Row and the grand houses near the water. Start any time.

    How long does the tour take?

    About 1 hour 20 minutes in all, walking 2.4 miles and listening to all eight stories.

    Where is Rainbow Row?

    On East Bay Street, between the City Market and the Battery. It's the fifth stop.

    Can you see Fort Sumter from the Battery?

    Yes, across the harbor. The walk ends at the Battery, looking toward the harbor where the Civil War began.

    Where does the tour start and end?

    It starts at Charleston City Market and ends at The Battery.

    Do I need the app?

    No. After you unlock, the tour plays right here in your browser: keep the screen on and tap each stop. The free Stories app adds GPS auto-play, so each story starts by itself when you arrive, with your phone in your pocket, and works offline.

    How many people can listen?

    One purchase covers your group on up to 4 phones. Share the link from your receipt, or everyone can sign in to the app with the same email.

    Does it work offline?

    In the app, yes: download the tour on Wi-Fi before you go. In the browser you need a signal, which is fine on most city streets; open the tour once before you leave.

    When can I start?

    Any time. It is self-guided, so there are no departure times and no group to keep up with. Pause for coffee and pick up where you left off.

    Can I give this tour as a gift?

    Yes. Tap "Give it as a gift", type their email and a note, and pick the day it arrives (Christmas morning works). They open it in their phone's browser; you get the receipt.

    Can I get a refund?

    Yes. If the tour did not work for you, email support@getstories.app within 7 days and we will refund it.

    Who made this tour?

    Stories writes each tour from public sources, checks every claim against them, and narrates it with a synthetic voice. The sources are listed at the end of this page; if you spot a mistake, tell us at support@getstories.app.

    About this tour and its sources

    You're standing at the Charleston City Market, under long, low sheds that run block after block toward the harbor. Look along the rows of stalls, and then up at the columned hall at the head of them, Market Hall, which stands at Meeting Street. This ground has been a market for a very long time, and, if an old promise holds, it always will be.

    In 1788, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and other landowners gave the city this strip of reclaimed marsh, on one condition: that it remain a market in perpetuity. The first sheds went up around 1790, and the city has kept that promise ever since.

    One thing to settle before we move on. Enslaved people were never sold here. That happened at the Old Slave Mart, which we'll reach later, and it's a common mix-up.

    Charleston's wealth was built on the forced labor of enslaved people. Over this walk you'll see what that wealth bought: grand houses, a tall church, and a waterfront row of pastel color. You'll also see places where people were bought and sold. English settlers arrived here in 1670. And at the end, at the Battery, you'll look out across the harbor where the Civil War began. So hold onto one question as we walk: what did this city build, who paid for it, and what did it cost?

    Let's start right here, with a market that was told it could never stop being a market.

    Written from public sources, every claim checked against them, narrated by a synthetic voice. Last checked October 2026.

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