Each year from mid-March to mid-April, Historic Charleston Foundation offers visitors a rare opportunity to tour eight to ten privately owned houses and gardens and historic sites during its annual Festival of Houses and Gardens. This month-long program includes walking tours, special events, and luncheon lectures that explore more than 300 years of Charleston's history.

Historic Charleston Foundation Museum Shop: 108 Meeting Street
Historic Charleston Reproductions shop: 105 Broad Street
Phone: (843) 722-3405
For Brochure: (843) 722-3405

The College of Charleston
The Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture is located on the site of the former Avery Normal Institute. Founded in 1865, the Avery Normal Institute was a nationally recognized African-American educational institution that trained young adults in professional careers and leadership roles for nearly 100 years. The Institute closed in 1954, but its graduates carried on its legacy and tradition of community leadership and educational excellence. This was especially apparent in 1978 when Avery graduates organized the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture, a community-based historical society. In 1985, members of the Institute cooperated with the College of Charleston to found the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. The center was established to collect, preserve, and make public the unique historical and cultural heritage of African Americans in Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry. The Avery Research Center is governed by an advisory board consisting of members of the Institute, the college, and the Charleston community. It is the only research center of its kind in the Southeast.

Location: 125 Bull Street, five blocks west of the main campus of the College of Charleston.
Phone: (843) 953-7609
Hours: Monday-Friday 12 pm-5 pm: closed for College of Charleston holidays. Docents and interns provide interpretation of museum exhibits to individual and group visitors.

Founded in 1920, the Preservation Society of Charleston is the oldest community-based preservation organization in America. Its mission focuses on preservation advocacy, education and planning. During September and October, the Society offers its annual Fall Tours of Homes and Gardens. In addition to private homes and gardens, the tours include churches and other buildings that impart the historic and architectural evolution of the city. Society members receive a 10% discount on tour tickets. Other programs of the Preservation society include historic markers and the Carolopolis Awards, which have been presented since 1953 to recognize outstanding achievement in rehabilitating historic buildings. Visit the Society's Preservation Book and gift Shop located on the corner of King and Queen Streets for a wide selection of books on local and regional history, culture and architecture, as well as unique Charleston and Lowcountry gifts.

Other programs of the Preservation society include historic markers and the Carolopolis Awards, which have been presented since 1953 to recognize outstanding achievement in rehabilitating historic buildings. Visit the Society's Preservation Book and gift Shop located on the corner of King and Queen Streets for a wide selection of books on local and regional history, culture and architecture, as well as unique Charleston and Lowcountry gifts.

The Preservation Society Book and Gift Shop
Location: 147 King Street
Phone: (843) 722-4630 FAX: (843)723-4381
For Brochure: (843) 722-4630 Hours: Monday – Saturday 10 am–5 pm
Closed Sundays, New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.

Founded in 1855, the South Carolina Historical Society maintains a vast research library containing genealogical data, books, personal letters, plantation records, photographs and maps and plats in the hstoric Robert Mills Fireproof Building. Researchers are invited to visit the Historical Society, where, for a modest fee, they can trace their ancestry, learn more about South Carolina history or view the society's collection of original artwork. For the cost of membership, researchers can use the Society's library for free and receive invitations to exclusive house and plantation tours and subscriptions to the South Carolina Historical Magazine and Carologue. For more infomation about the Historical Society, pelase consult its website at www.schistory.org. There, you can visit the Historical Society's online gift shop to purchase books, prints of historic maps and paintings, as well as Historical Society ties, cufflinks, blazer buttons, coffee mugs and other items.

Location: 100 Meeting Street
Phone: (843) 723-3225; FAX (843) 723-8584
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9 am-4pm; Tuesday 9am-7:30 pm; Saturday 9 am-2 pm.
Closed on all federal holidays, between Christmas and New Year's Day, and for special occasions as noted on the Historical Society's website.