Charleston Living Magazine May-June 2023

BUZZ | HISTORY
Four Corners of Law
Charting Charleston’s most famous intersection
By TIM LOWRY
In the very heart of Charleston’s Old and Historic
District, at the intersection of Broad and Meeting Streets,
stands the fabled “Four Corners of Law.” The buildings that
make up this famous landmark were first labeled as such by
Robert Ripley in his popular 1930’s illustrated newspaper
column “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” It is said that each
edifice represents a particular branch of law.
St. Michael’s Anglican Church lays claim
to the highest authority as it represents
God’s law. Across the street is the United
States Post Office and Federal Courthouse
representing federal law. Then there is the
Charleston County Courthouse standing for
state law. And finally, on the fourth corner,
stands Charleston City Hall, the official seat
of municipal law.
While waiting for the crosswalk signal,
one can stand on the sidewalk and observe
a horse-drawn carriage trotting through the
intersection and hear the tour guide driver
joke that this is the only place in America
where a person can drop a quarter into the
parking meter, step into the church and get
married, cross the street and pick up mail
address to Mr. & Mrs. So-And-So, cross the
street again to file for divorce, and cross the
street a final time to have your ex thrown in
jail, then return to your car parked along the
curb to find the majority of your time still left
on the parking meter.
Sticklers for historic accuracy might
discount the carriage driver’s joke as an exaggeration,
but it is a quick traffic light, and
tour guides don’t have a lot of time to provide
more context as they hurry through the
intersection. Just in case you are wondering,
here’s some background for each building.
(Left): Charleston County Courthouse located
at 82-86 Broad Street; (Above): An image of the
county courthouse in the 1930s.
PHOTO LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
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