Old Slave Mart - History

History

Throughout the first half of the 19th century, slaves brought into Charleston were sold at public auctions held on the north side of the Exchange and Provost building. After Charleston prohibited public slave auctions in 1856, slave markets sprang up along Chalmers, State, and Queen streets. One such market was Ryan's Mart, established by Charleston sheriff and alderman Thomas Ryan and his business partner, James Marsh. Ryan's Mart originally consisted of a closed lot with three structures— a four-story barracoon, a kitchen, and a morgue.

In 1859, an auction master named Z. B. Oakes purchased Ryan's Mart, and built what is now the Old Slave Mart building for use as an auction gallery. The building's auction table was 3 feet (0.91 m) high and 10 feet (3.0 m) long, and stood just inside the arched doorway. Along with slaves, the market also sold real estate and stock. Slave auctions at Ryan's Mart were advertised in broadsides throughout the 1850s, some appearing as far away as Galveston, Texas.

When Union forces occupied Charleston toward the end of the Civil War in February 1865, the slaves still imprisoned at Ryan's Mart were freed. In 1878, the Old Slave Mart was converted into a tenement dwelling and a second floor was added. A car dealership and showroom operated in the building in the 1920s, necessitating the expansion of the rear of the building. In 1938, Miriam B. Wilson purchased the building and established the Old Slave Mart Museum, which initially displayed African and African-American art. The City of Charleston and the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission restored the Old Slave Mart in the late 1990s. The museum now interprets the history of the city's slave trade. The area behind the building, which once contained the barracoon and kitchen, is now a parking lot.