Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon

Originally constructed in 1771 as a commercial exchange and custom house, this building offers a dual experience of colonial life and Revolutionary-era confinement. Visitors explore the upper levels through self-guided exhibitions on their own timeline, covering local history and the Declaration of Independence. The experience shifts significantly in the lower levels, where a 25-minute guided tour leads into the Provost Dungeon. Within these brick walls—which once held prisoners of war and pirates—the atmosphere becomes notably dark and raw. The basement also reveals an excavated section of the original 18th-century defensive sea wall, grounding the site's historical narratives in the physical remnants of early Charleston.