The Hidden Pirates Courtyard In South Carolina You Won’t Be Able To Pass Up
(Editor’s Note: This courtyard is now posted as private property. Please do not enter the courtyard without permission from the owner.)
Visitors to the oldest city in South Carolina are often filled with a sense of intrigue and find themselves awestruck over the many historic homes that line the narrow streets downtown. A simple self-guided tour helps to get an up close glimpse into both the past and the present in Charleston’s historic district. But, like a gigantic old worn mansion, the city is filled with secret passages and garden rooms (also called courtyards) that are more difficult to find.
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One of them is hiding in plain sight and still manages to fly under the radar of most visitors. Yet, the history and titillating tales that surround the Pirates Courtyard are enough to arouse, and then satisfy, anyone's sense of curiosity.
The Pirate House is located on Church Street and was built around 1740. During the period before the American Revolution, it was widely known as an inn for the scourge of pirates that plagued the city. It's widely believed the pirates entered the city (and left with stolen goods) through a tunnel that began at The Battery and ended in the basement of the Pirate House. Some say the sandy tunnel still exists.
If you walk through the open gate on the right side of the Pirate House and then walk down a long narrow passageway, you'll find yourself in the secret Pirates Courtyard.
The passage opens up to a charming hidden space once filled with the general debauchery that followed scallywags and pirates. Today, it's a lovely courtyard with several entrances to private residences that face the courtyard.
Across the street from the Pirate House and the hidden courtyard, stands the majestic St. Philip's Episcopal Church. In the days when pirates would have filled the rooms at the inn, St. Philip's was made of wood and eventually caught fire and burned to the ground. The present-day structure was built from 1836-1850 to replace the lost wooden edifice.
Robin Jarvis is a travel writer and editor for OnlyInYourState.com with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. Her love for travel has taken her to many parts of the world. She's lived in the Carolinas for nearly three decades and currently resides in Charleston. When she's not working, she loves to cook with friends and check out new adventures. General questions and FAM tours: rjarvis@onlyinyourstate.com.
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