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Rainbow Row, Charleston, SC

Photo: ProfReader, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

SightseeingIconicHistory Buff

Rainbow Row

See 13 pastel-painted historic row houses lining East Bay Street between Tradd and Elliott Streets.

79-107 East Bay St, between Tradd and Elliott Sts · Charleston, SC

About Rainbow Row

Rainbow Row is a block of 13 historic houses at 79 to 107 East Bay Street, painted in pastel colors as they were restored in the 1930s and 1940s. The buildings once fronted the Cooper River, with merchants keeping shops on the ground floor and living above. In 1931 Dorothy Porcher Legge bought part of the row and painted her houses pink, and other owners followed. The houses are private residences, so you see them from the sidewalk, and it is a favorite spot for photographs.

  • #historic houses
  • #photo spot
  • #historic district
  • #architecture
  • #walking tour

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What's around here?

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

  • 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

    Right next doorMore 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

    Steps 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

    0.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Shopping
    Iconic

    Charleston City Market

    No admission fee

    Browse four blocks of open-air sheds and the Great Hall for sweetgrass baskets, local crafts and souvenirs.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    The Battery

    No admission fee

    Stroll the harbor seawall promenade past antebellum mansions to the oaks and cannons of White Point Garden.

    0.4 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    Outdoor Adventure

    Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

    No admission fee

    Walk or bike Wonders' Way across a cable-stayed bridge with two 575-foot diamond towers and wide views of Charleston Harbor.

    2.0 mi awayMore like this