Historic Charleston City Market, SC

In downtown Charleston, South Carolina, the City Market is a historic market complex. The market, which dates back to the 1790s, spans four city blocks, beginning with the architecturally notable Market Hall on Meeting Street and ending with a series of one-story market sheds on East Bay Street. The City Market is not to be confused with the Old Slave Mart, which sold slaves, as slaves were never sold there. The City Market Hall has been dubbed a "highest architectural design quality" structure.

Slaves were sold at the Charleston City Market, right?

The Charleston City Market is a nice place to buy presents and food. Slaves were not really sold there (see history below). Charleston's plantation economy, like that of many other southern states, was primarily reliant on slave labor. The majority of slaves were from West Africa.

What used to be the Charleston City Market?

Charleston's City Market, formerly known as the Centre Market, was built to replace the city's Beef Market structure (on the location of Charleston's City Hall, 100 Broad Street), which burned down in 1796.