Mills House Hotel

The Mills House that stands at Queen and Meeting Streets is a reconstruction, but the hotel’s history begins in 1853. Otis Mills, a Charleston grain merchant, converted a private residence into a grand hotel, adding modern amenities for its day and a dining room that helped make it one of the city’s leading addresses.

In December 1861, the Great Fire swept through Charleston and destroyed a large part of the city. The Mills House survived. Robert E. Lee was staying there during the fire, an episode that later became part of the hotel’s public story. The building continued operating through the upheavals that followed, accumulating its own layers of repairs and alterations.