Ninety Six National Historic Site Visitor Center

OPERATING HOURS

The Ninety Six National Historic Site Visitor Center is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 9 AM to 4:30 PM. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. Times can always change, so be sure to check the park’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for the current schedule.

For those looking to learn something during their time at the park, I do not recommend visiting unless the Visitor Center is open, as this is the only place with substantial information about the town of Ninety Six and the American Revolution battles that took place here. Without this knowledge, when you venture out to see the historic sites, you will have no idea about what you are looking at or why it is important. If, on the other hand, you are just coming out to hike the trails and get some exercise, stop by at any time.

AMENITIES

• Ranger-staffed information desk where you can ask questions and get a park brochure
• Book and souvenir store
• Theater
• Exhibit area
• Restrooms

Souvenir and bookstore at the Ninety Six National Historic Site Visitor Center

PARK FILM

The Visitor Center has a small auditorium where you can watch the 22-minute park film Crossroads of a Revolution. The film shows on demand—just ask a Ranger to start it for you—and it is the best way to begin your visit to Ninety Six National Historic Site. It has some excellent computer animations that explain the battles, and it features actual actors and battle action. The film is quite violent for a park film, though it is not as graphic as today’s Hollywood movies. I’d rate it PG, fine for children 10+ years old, but all depends on your children.

Visitor Center media room, Ninety Six National Historic Site

EXHIBIT AREA

Exhibit area inside the Ninety Six National Historic Site Visitor Center

A small exhibit area inside the Visitor Center presents guests with information on the historic town of Ninety Six from its inception as a frontier trading post to its destruction during the American Revolution. There is also information on the Cherokee Indians who first settled the area and their relationship with the white settlers who moved into the South Carolina backcountry in the mid-1700s.

In addition to information, there are plenty of actual artifacts found during various archeological excavations of the park. These include old ceramic dishes and pottery, parts of weapons, and items traded with the Cherokee.

Musket trigger guard found at the Gouedy Trading Post site on display in the Visitor Center exhibit area at Ninety Six National Historic Site

In the center of the room is a table-top model of what the town of Ninety Six and the two Loyalist forts, the Star Fort and Stockade Fort, might have looked like during the American Revolution. Familiarity with the layout will help you to understand what you are seeing once you get out to explore the battlefield and town site.

Model of the Ninety Six town site and Loyalist forts built during the America Revolution on display in the Visitor Center exhibit area at Ninety Six National Historic Site

There are also three interactive exhibits. Voices of Ninety Six presents opinions on the American Revolution from the perspectives of various Patriots and Loyalists from the southern colonies. Each audio exert is no more than 30 seconds long, and there are eight in all.

Built for Battle is an interactive map that allows users to learn about the various sites within the Ninety Six historic area.

Digitizing Kosciuszko’s Mine is an extensive video presentation on a modern excavation of a mine that the Patriots started digging towards the Star Fort with the intention of placing gunpowder in it to blow up the fort. The mine was never completed. Each video is 3 to 5 minutes long, and there are eight in total.

Interactive exhibits at the Ninety Six National Historic Site Visitor Center

Interactive video series on the excavation of a Patriot mine dug under the Star Fort shows in the exhibit area of the Ninety Six National Historic Site Visitor Center

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Plan to spend at least 45 minutes and up to possibly two hours at the Ninety Six National Historic Site Visitor Center. Forty-five minutes gives you time to watch the park film, browse through the exhibits, and talk with a Ranger to get an orientation of the park. For those more into history, you could spend another hour just on the interactive exhibits.

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