© 2026 South Carolina Public Radio
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
SC Public Radio's statewide network is experiencing intermittent outages and programming issues due to ongoing infrastructure upgrades. Our team is working to keep these disruptions to a minimum and to resolve issues that do arise. Streaming on this site, the SCETV App, the NPR App, and smart speakers is unaffected.

Emma Whalen/The Post & Courier

Emma Whalen, reporter for The Post & Courier, Charleston, SC.

  • The old Charleston Jail on Magazine St. The Charleston Work House was once located next to the jail. The Work House was a place where slave owners could pay the city to punish enslaved people. On July 13, 2022, a plaque was erected by the City of Charleston marking the site as a place where brutal mistreatment of enslaved people was carried out by the city, providing a source of revenue for Charleston. The plaque includes research reviewed by the Charleston Commission on History.
    SC News
    Charleston puts up plaque where slaves were beaten, punished
    Emma Whalen/The Post & Courier
    Until recently, the story of the Charleston Work House received little recognition in the city's collective memory. That changed a little when Mayor John Tecklenburg unveiled a plaque detailing its past. The Charleston Work House, was located next to The Old Charleston Jail on Magazine street. It was a place where slave owners could pay the city to punish enslaved people. The plaque erected July 13 includes research reviewed by the Charleston Commission on History.