Fort Sumter

Ride a ferry across Charleston Harbor to walk the island fort where the first battle of the Civil War took place.

Charleston Harbor, ferry from Liberty Square, 340 Concord St · Charleston, SC

About Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter sits on an artificial island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, where Confederate forces attacked on April 12, 1861, in the battle that sparked the Civil War. You reach it only by the Fort Sumter Tours ferry from Liberty Square in downtown Charleston or Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. The trip takes about two and a quarter hours, with roughly an hour on the fort. Inside the old brick walls stands Battery Huger, a massive concrete gun battery built in 1898.

#civil war
#historic fort
#harbor ferry
#national historical park

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What's around here?

The closest stops to Fort Sumter, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sightseeing
History Buff
Fort Moultrie
Under $25
Walk through a restored coastal fort on Sullivan's Island that traces harbor defense from 1809 through World War II.
1.1 mi awayMore like this
Museums
History Buff
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
$25–$50
Board the WWII aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and the destroyer USS Laffey on Charleston Harbor.
3.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Sightseeing
Iconic
The Battery
No admission fee
Stroll the harbor seawall promenade past antebellum mansions to the oaks and cannons of White Point Garden.
3.4 mi awayMore like this
Sightseeing
Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
Under $25
A 1771 Charleston building that once served as a trading hall and customs office, now a historic site focused on the Revolution and colonial life.
Transit: reachable by public transit
3.4 mi awayMore like this
Museums
Old Slave Mart Museum
Under $25
Downtown Charleston museum in part of a former antebellum slave auction building, focused on the domestic slave trade.
Transit: reachable by public transit
3.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Museums
History Buff
Gibbes Museum of Art
Check prices
See American art tied to Charleston and the South inside a 1905 Beaux Arts gallery on Meeting Street in the historic district.
Transit: reachable by public transit
3.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums