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façade. The front (south side) faces the cobblestone-paved
Chalmers Street. The building originally measured 44 feet (13 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m), but an extension in 1922 gave it its current dimensions. The unique façade of the Old Slave Mart consists of 20-foot (6.1 m) octagonal pillars
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The museum closed in 1987 due to budgeting issues. The City of
Charleston and the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission restored the Old Slave Mart in the late 1990s. The museum now interprets the history of the city's slave trade. The area behind the building, which once contained the
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slave auctions in 1856, Charlestonians established enclosed slave markets along
Chalmers, State, and Queen streets. One such market was Ryan's Mart, established by city councilman and broker Thomas Ryan and his business partner James Marsh. Ryan's Mart originally consisted of a closed lot with three
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The Old Slave Mart was originally part of a slave market known as Ryan's Slave Mart, which covered a large enclosed lot between
Chalmers and Queen Streets. Charleston City Councilman Thomas Ryan established the private auction facility in 1856 after a citywide ban on public slave auctions. Slave
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The building initially contained one large room with a 20-foot (6.1 m) ceiling. In 1878, a second floor was added, and the roof was overhauled. The arched entryway initially held an iron gate; in the late 1870s, it was filled with simple doors. Interior partitions were added in subsequent
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In 1938, Miriam B. Wilson purchased the building and established the Old Slave Mart Museum, which initially displayed
African and African-American art. Wilson operated the museum on a shoestring budget until she died in 1959. Although Wilson was from Ohio, the Old Slave Mart Museum, under her
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purchased Ryan's Mart and built the Old Slave Mart building as an auction gallery. The building's auction table was 3 feet (0.91 m) high and 10 feet (3.0 m) long and stood just inside the arched doorway. In addition to enslaved people, the market sold
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In 1878, the Old Slave Mart was converted into a tenement dwelling, with a second floor added. A car dealership and showroom operated in the building in the 1920s, which expanded the rear of the building.
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that slavery had been good for
African Americans. Wilson bequeathed the museum and its artifacts (mostly crafts made by enslaved African Americans) to the
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In a 2018 auction, the
College of Charleston purchased 47 boxes of documents from the museum's early years for $ 5,400 (~$ 6,455 in 2023).
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When U.S. Army forces occupied
Charleston beginning in February 1865, the people Ryan's Mart still enslaved were freed.
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for its role in
Charleston's African American history. Today, the building houses the Old Slave Mart Museum.
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occupied
Charleston and closed Ryan's Mart. The Old Slave Mart Museum has operated on and off since 1938.
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Throughout the first half of the 19th century, enslaved people brought into Charleston were sold at
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decades, dividing the first floor into three rooms. Today, an iron gate is in the archway again.
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504:"80 years after first opening, Charleston's Old Slave Mart Museum adds new layers of history"
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The Old Slave Mart is a 67-foot (20 m) by 19-foot (5.8 m) brick structure with a
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173:-auction gallery. Constructed in 1859, the building is believed to be the last extant
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Historic Charleston's Religious and Community Buildings, a National Park Service
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Denmark Vesey's garden : slavery and memory in the cradle of the Confederacy
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List of buildings and structures used in the slave trade in the United States
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Information obtained from a display in the Old Slave Mart Museum, 2010.
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National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Old Slave Mart
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auctions were held at the site until approximately 1863; in 1865, the
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at each end, with a central elliptical arch comprising the entrance.
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1830s <updated 7/26/21 source slave auction paper found in attic
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National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, South Carolina
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370:"Old Slave Mart, Charleston County (6 Chalmers St., Charleston)"
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in South Carolina. In 1975, the Old Slave Mart was added to the
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The Buildings of Charleston: A Guide to the City's Architecture
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National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers,
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African-American history in Charleston, South Carolina
492:(University of South Carolina Press 1997), pp. 64-65.
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throughout the 1850s, some appearing as far away as
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History of the National Register of Historic Places
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History of the National Register of Historic Places
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376:. South Carolina Department of Archives and History
259:. Slave auctions at Ryan's Mart were advertised in
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546:Museum Grand Opening Press Release, October 2007
374:National Register Properties in South Carolina
162:is a building located at 6 Chalmers Street in
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303:barracoon and kitchen, is now a parking lot.
8:
435:, 12 February 1975. Retrieved: 27 May 2010.
243:, a kitchen, and a morgue or "dead house."
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1015:African-American museums in South Carolina
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582:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
35:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
460:. The New Press. pp. 244–252, 255.
454:Kytle, Ethan J.; Roberts, Blain (2018).
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346:"National Register Information System"
218:The layout of Ryan's Mart, circa 1860.
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1005:Museums in Charleston, South Carolina
286:Museum Front of the "Old Slave Mart."
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1020:History of slavery in South Carolina
351:National Register of Historic Places
230:building. After the city prohibited
179:National Register of Historic Places
1035:Slave markets in the United States
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1010:History museums in South Carolina
246:In 1859, an auction master named
1040:Slave jails in the United States
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321:Slave trade in the United States
226:held on the north side of the
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539:Discover Our Shared Heritage
431:Nenie Dixon and Elias Bull,
16:United States historic place
941:National Historic Landmarks
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235:structures — a four-story
164:Charleston, South Carolina
63:Charleston, South Carolina
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409:. Retrieved: 27 May 2010.
316:Antebellum South Carolina
136:NRHP reference
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278:Transition into a museum
122:Architectural style
954:Keeper of the Register
605:Keeper of the Register
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175:slave auction facility
974:Contributing property
620:National Park Service
600:Contributing property
531:Old Slave Mart Museum
356:National Park Service
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52:Old Slave Mart facade
488:Jonathan H. Poston,
291:ownership, embraced
228:Exchange and Provost
166:that once housed an
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90:32.7778°N 79.9284°W
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61:6 Chalmers Street,
533:- official website
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109:less than one acre
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969:Historic district
610:Historic district
467:978-1-62097-546-6
297:Charleston Museum
168:antebellum-period
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95:32.7778; -79.9284
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358:. July 9, 2010.
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511:. Retrieved
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929:Other lists
864:Spartanburg
261:broadsheets
253:real estate
248:Z. B. Oakes
152:May 2, 1975
93: /
69:Coordinates
989:Categories
910:Greenville
900:Charleston
844:Orangeburg
769:Greenville
764:Georgetown
744:Dorchester
734:Darlington
704:Charleston
513:2020-11-23
476:1097077428
332:References
241:slave jail
187:Union Army
130:Romanesque
81:79°55′42″W
78:32°46′40″N
920:Rock Hill
829:McCormick
814:Lexington
799:Lancaster
774:Greenwood
754:Fairfield
749:Edgefield
724:Clarendon
669:Allendale
659:Abbeville
652:by county
237:barracoon
905:Columbia
854:Richland
834:Newberry
824:Marlboro
759:Florence
729:Colleton
709:Cherokee
694:Berkeley
689:Beaufort
684:Barnwell
674:Anderson
310:See also
199:stuccoed
143:75001694
58:Location
936:Bridges
849:Pickens
804:Laurens
794:Kershaw
779:Hampton
714:Chester
699:Calhoun
679:Bamberg
380:23 June
210:History
869:Sumter
859:Saluda
839:Oconee
819:Marion
789:Jasper
739:Dillon
593:Topics
474:
464:
232:public
193:Design
874:Union
784:Horry
664:Aiken
650:Lists
257:stock
171:slave
114:Built
884:York
472:OCLC
462:ISBN
382:2012
255:and
158:The
106:Area
809:Lee
584:in
239:or
138:No.
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506:.
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414:^
390:^
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354:.
348:.
267:.
128:,
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478:.
384:.
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