City Hall - What a Beefcake
- History, Haunts, & Hahas!
- Nov 22, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 6
You may know the elegant building that stands on the corner of Broad Street & Meeting Street. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you’ve seen couples shoot their engagement or wedding photos there. You might have caught a glimpse of bachelorette parties draping themselves dramatically across the banister in swooning gestures. Perhaps you’ve noted how it’s perfect for a very, very long gown. But there’s so much more to it.
City Hall’s architecture is nothing to scoff at. Its double stairwell draw correlations to Charleston nostalgia (more on this later). Its ornate windows direct light into the main room (more on this later). Each of these speaks heavily to Charleston style. But wait, there’s still more…
It wasn’t always City Hall. For the last six years, I was decidedly convinced it had been a bank before that - a bank that burned down, and that’s all that’s ever been there. Recent archival research led me from a rabbit hole that started at Henry’s on the Market, led the Market Street (links below)…
…and then stirred up a brand new pot altogether. The beef market! Oh no, we haven’t moved locations in the story. I am talking about the same spot. The exist of a beef market in that location is brand-spanking-new information for me. How did I find this not-so-commonly-known information?! On the app I designed (of course) that filters through all the BS and doesn’t show you anything except for peer reviewed, accredited, and scholarly articles. Oh, yeah, it’s a lot of fun.
I’m delighted to go it in the ebbs and flows of my ADHD deep diving mind, but for now, I’ll drop links to the same information that just blindsided me this morning. I don’t think the second link is a thick enough packet. Oh… I stand corrected. The third link is the tiny one.
Turns out there was a beef market that burned down (I’m salivating from imaging how tasty that might’ve smelled). Then, there was a bank, but it failed. Now, it’s city hall! It’s funny when the things you know to be fact turn out to not be facts at all but instead a game of telephone. Glad I rectified this one! I’m smashing through boulders of commonly known information that’s actually falsified and uncovering hidden truths left and right!
STAY TUNED!
That building is also HAUNTED by Confederate General PGT Beauregard (more on this later).
This is just me compiling my research, sources, and comments for certain topics while you can be a fly on the wall. Some blogs may appear barren, but come back to see progress. Book a Charleston history and ghost tour with History, Haunts, & Hahas! today.
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