The Old Powder Magazine is the only public building remaining in North or South Carolina from the period of the Lords Proprietors, that group of English noblemen who originally owned and ruled the joint province of Carolina.
The Powder Magazine was crucial to storage of powder for defense of the city. Although replaced by a newer magazine in 1748, it continued to serve effectively for its purpose into the period of the American Revolution. The building is now the oldest public building in the city dating back to 1713.
