Drayton Hall will close at 1:30pm on Saturday, December 21, 2024. We will return to normal hours on Sunday, December 22.
Voted the Best Place to See by Condé Nast Traveler.
Voted the Best Place to See by Condé Nast Traveler.
Recently, our archaeologists made an exciting discovery in our current excavation! We were able to connect this medicine bottle to a local pharmacy dating to 1875-1901. The bottle is associated with Dr. Herman Baer, who left his home in Germany and celebrated his 17th birthday at sea bound for America. Arriving in Charleston in 1847, he worked as a private teacher and tutor in German, French, and Hebrew. In 1853, Baer was invited to work at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC where he eventually graduated before pursuing his medical degree at the Medical College in Charleston.
From 1861 and throughout the American Civil War, Dr. Baer served as a doctor for the Confederate Army. Following the war, he and Dr. E. H. Keller bought a pharmacy located at 131 Meeting Street in Downtown Charleston. Eventually, Baer acquired his own pharmacy down the street at 155 Meeting Street, which is now the site of Toast! All Day restaurant. Although the exact contents of the bottle remain unknown, an advertisement taken out by Dr. Baer in the 1875 Charleston City Directory suggests he offered a range of tonics, cordials, and elixirs. 
To learn more about Dr. H Baer’s life and achievements visit: https://blogs.wofford.edu/from_the_archives/2018/10/19/herman-baer-the-man-behind-the-benificent-plaque/
It was nearly fifty years ago that brothers Charles and Frank Drayton wrestled with the future of their family’s homeseat- Drayton Hall. Privately held by the Drayton family for seven…
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Read MoreDrayton Hall Preservation Trust has been awarded the 2024 Prize for Excellence and Innovation from The Decorative Arts Trust. This award will help fund the conservation of the Great Hall…
Read More(843) 769-2600
info@draytonhall.org
3380 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
Open Wednesday - Monday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Closed on Tuesday (gate closes at 3:30 pm). The gate will accept no cash transactions.
