Entry No. 1 — the Charleston file — filed under: oddities

The Charleston Museum — Early Days Gallery

Tucked past the Charleston silver and Revolutionary War galleries of America's first museum (founded 1773) is the deliberately old-fashioned Early Days gallery: a real Roman-period Egyptian mummy (acquired 1893), 19th-century natural-history specimens preserved in jars, and cabinet-of-curiosities displays evoking the museum's earliest decades.

The move: Wander the low-lit Early Days gallery together hunting for the two-headed snake and the mummy case (nicknamed the "Lady of Cairo," bought by the museum for $200 in 1893), then walk over to the Bunting Natural History Gallery next door for its bird and animal taxidermy mounts before splitting a dessert downtown.

• 📍 Downtown Charleston / Museum Mile
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 360 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Official site · sites.udel.edu · mummies.com

last checked: 2026-07-20