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/
Hannah Truman is a graduate student completing her MS in the Clemson University Historic Preservation program. As the 2024 Riley Collections Fellow, Hannah documented nail holes, extant hanging…
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Flights of Fancy was made possible through the generosity of the Preview Party Committee members and corporate sponsors of the 2024 Preview Party for The Charleston Show. We are grateful…
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info@draytonhall.org
3380 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
Drayton Hall's main house and landscape are open to the public daily from 9 am to 5:00pm* (gate closes at 3:30 pm). The gate will accept no cash transactions.
