Nathaniel Russell House

Nathaniel Russell House’s History of Slavery

In the cobblestone alleyways, incredible world-class restaurants, and miles of captivating beaches of Charleston, a strong sense of historic significance can be felt. After all, this was the city in which the first shots of the American Civil War had been fired. This city’s history has been riddled with slavery.

Let’s take a look into one of the most historically important sites in this city that encapsulates the essence of that history. Commonly referred to as one of America’s most important Neoclassical houses, Nathaniel Russell house was built by the slave trader and wealthy merchant of the same name, and it served as a display of his wealthy elitist prominence in the city.

It was built in the then-popular federal style, and in the year 1995, the Historic Charleston Foundation began on a journey to analyze and restore the mansion to its former glory. This was a wise decision, for the mansion remains a popular attraction up to this day, drawing many tourists to the city. This townhouse has, no doubt, had a huge role to play in Travel + Leisure Magazine’s decision to rank Charleston as the best city in the world perpetually over the last few decades.

Take a Step Back in Time with this Tour

As part of a package deal, you can save money by opting for the combination ticket that allows you to visit the Aiken-Rhett House Museum. Right across the street from the visiting center, you can walk on over to the museum in question. They are all within easy walking distance of the rest of the city’s core.

Unlike most historic houses and museums, they allow photography. So don’t miss your chance and grab your camera. You’ll be glad you did.

You have a choice between the docent-led tour or a self-guided tour using the Historic Charleston app. If the timing works out, you are recommended to choose the former, as the tour guides have been repeatedly praised for their enthusiasm, wealth of knowledge, openness to questions, and overall pleasantness to be around. But if time constraints don’t work out, using the app, you can listen to the recorded multi-media guided tour of the house instead, which isn’t bad either. The price is the same either way. Proceeds go towards the ongoing restoration efforts of the house.

Be prepared to be taken back by the magnificent antique housewares and furniture, as you immerse yourself in the life and culture surrounding the 19th-century commerce of the area, and learn about this family of the elite merchant, as well. You’ll be impressed by the architectural wonder.

But the centerpiece attraction of the mansion has to be the marvelous engineering of the staircase. It is an oval-shaped spiral staircase without any supports and yet manages to ascend three floors. It looks very beautiful in the ambient lighting. Here’s your chance to take some creatively angled photos.

Although by the Historic Charleston Foundation’s admission, some of the antiques for you to discover aren’t authentic to the items found in the house, you’ll be nonetheless charmed by the restoration efforts that will help you visualize what life in Charleston was like back in the 19th century. They’ve done a lot to faithfully preserve the history of the house despite their limited knowledge of some parts of the mansion.

The restoration

As mentioned, the restoration process is still ongoing. The summer kitchen, house kitchen, and the two-story slave quarters in the back of the rear of the house are among the projects that are being worked on currently.

Little is known about the slaves that labored and suffered there, having built the house themselves, brick by brick. Nathaniel Russell is thought to have moved in the mansion with 16 slaves and has had an estimated number of 18 slaves that have lived and worked there in total. Experts have no records to help them tell us much about them but the forensic evidence that is left there. For example, a piece of a reading primer had been found preserved in rat urine inside the remains of an undisturbed rat nest in the drywall. Rats are known to gather a ton of items from a 50-foot radius. Could this mean a slave had gotten their hands on a reading primer and was illegally learning how to read and write? If that is true, it is a hallmark of their ambition in the bleakest of times.

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