Charleston City Hall

On the site of a Colonial marketplace, this handsomely proportioned 1801 building first housed the Bank of the United States and then became Charleston's City Hall in 1818. The design is attributed to Charlestonian Gabriel Manigault, a gentleman architect credited with introducing the Adamesque style to the city after studying in Europe. A gallery in the Council Chamber on the second floor grew out of a custom of commissioning artists to paint famous visitors. The gallery includes a c. 1791 portrait of George Washington by John Trumbull (considered one of the best of Washington in his later years) and a portrait of President James Monroe by Samuel F. B. Morse. A guide is available to answer questions