Tucker House Museum

Built as a merchant’s house, this simple whitewashed building takes its name from Henry Tucker, one of the colony’s most important figures as president of the Governor’s Council. Walking through its elegant interior takes you back to the time of candlelit chandeliers, brick ovens, and four-poster beds. Tucker House Museum (Water St., at the junction of Barber’s Alley, tel. 441/297-0545, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Sat., $5 adults, $2 children 6–18) is a treasure trove of priceless antiques, including English mahogany and Bermudian cedar furniture, family portraits by American artist Joseph Blackburn, and domestic items such as hand-sewn quilts and kitchen utensils. On the lower floor, visit the archaeological display, which chronicles recent years’ excavations and the artifacts found below the cellar floor. Also particularly notable is the kitchen, where Joseph Hayne Rainey, a freed South Carolina slave and later the first black member of the U.S. House of Representatives, operated a barbershop for several years. The adjoining Barber’s Alley pays tribute to Hainey and his seamstress wife, who both escaped to Bermuda during the American Civil War and set up successful businesses before returning to the United States. Off this alleyway, there is a pocket-sized public garden, Smith’s Garden, which Princess Anne officially opened in 1991.