Since the early nineteenth century the Charleston City Market has been a center of commerce, and its four-block-long shed stretches ahead of you now. The current market hall at the head of the complex was built in 1841 in Greek Revival style; the sheds stretching behind it were built over several decades. The market was built on land that the city received from the Pinckney family with a deed restriction specifying it must be used as a public market in perpetuity — a condition that explains why development has never replaced it.
One persistent myth about this market deserves correction: enslaved people were not sold here. The actual slave auctions in Charleston took place at private venues nearby, most notoriously at Ryan's Mart on Chalmers Street. What the market did sell was the produce of enslaved labor — rice, vegetables, fish — much of it brought to market by enslaved vendors operating under complex arrangements with their enslavers.
Today, the market is most celebrated for its Gullah sweetgrass basket weavers, whose tradition traces directly to West Africa. The coiled grass baskets they make using techniques passed down for generations are among the most significant surviving examples of African material culture in the United States. Stop and watch, if you can.