Historic Carriage Tours (How the 'Lottery Zone' Works), The 'Four Corners of Law' & Ghost Walks

Around the Historic Charleston City Market on Anson, Guignard and Pinckney Streets stand the red-brick stables of Charleston's licensed Horse- and Mule-Drawn Carriage Tour companies (such as Palmetto Carriage Works in the 1860s Big Red Barn, Old South Carriage Co. and Carolina Polo & Carriage). Before booking a one-hour narrated ride (check operator websites for current fares), there is an important city ordinance to understand.

1. How Charleston's Random 'Carriage Route Bingo Lottery' Works

To prevent carriages from crowding the same narrow residential street at once, the City of Charleston divides the Historic District into four Residential Tour Zones (Zones 1, 2, 3 and 4):

• Random Zone Assignment at the Gate: no company can guarantee which zone your carriage will visit ahead of time. As each carriage leaves its stable, it stops at a municipal booth on Anson Street where an official draws a numbered ball (1, 2, 3 or 4) from a Bingo Cage to assign the driver's route on the spot.
  • Zones 1 & 2 (South of Market / Broad): pass through the French Quarter, Lower King, St. Michael's and toward The Battery and Rainbow Row.
  • Zones 3 & 4 (Ansonborough & Harleston Village): wind through 1830s Greek Revival mansions, gardens and the College of Charleston.
• Animal-Welfare Heat Law: every horse and mule has its temperature checked after each tour, and if air temperature reaches 35°C (95°F), carriage tours are suspended by law until temperatures cool down (book the earliest morning departures in summer).

2. The 'Four Corners of Law' (Broad & Meeting Streets) & Evening Ghost Tours

The intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets is flanked on its four corners by buildings representing Federal Law (1896 US Post Office & Federal Courthouse), State Law (1792 Charleston County Courthouse, designed by White House architect James Hoban), Municipal Law (1801 Charleston City Hall), and Religious Law: 1752 St. Michael's Church (free to enter, with eight English bells that crossed the Atlantic five times). After dark, join a Walking Ghost Tour with Bulldog Tours for evening access inside the 1802 Old City Jail and the 1713 Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon.