Tours set to begin again at Georgetown’s Kaminski House Museum

Tours set to begin again at Georgetown’s Kaminski House Museum

The front door to the Kaminski House will swing wide open on Tuesday, May 4, as the Georgetown museum resumes its daily tours after more than a year closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tours will be scheduled Monday through Saturday, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Advanced reservations and payments are recommended. The tours will be limited to five visitors of the same family or group of friends, or three guests who are unrelated. The museum will also accept reservations on the day of the tours, depending on availability. So for those looking for things to do in Georgetown County and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast, these reinstated tours will be the perfect opportunity.

The Kaminski House Museum will strictly enforce Covid-19 policies which state that all guests wear masks and practice social distancing at all times on the property and while inside the historic house. The museum will also provide sanitizing stations to all guests. Much of the tour will be conducted outside the house.

“We are thrilled to be reopening the Kaminski House Museum for public tours,” said Executive Director Robin Gabriel. “We have missed welcoming visitors from all over the world, and we can’t wait to share our new tour with everyone.”

While the grounds of the museum have been open to the public during the pandemic, the popular tours were halted in March 2020 as the Covid-19 crisis took hold of South Carolina, the nation and the world.

While the City of Georgetown boasts 66 properties on the National Historic Register — and dozens more historic homes, the Kaminski House Museum is the only home open for tours. An interesting fact: Georgetown has more historic homes than Charleston, its well-known sister city to the south.

Georgetown is 60 miles north of Charleston and about 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand. Georgetown County is known as South Carolina’s Hammock Coast and includes the beach communities of DeBordieu, Pawleys Island, Litchfield, Murrells Inlet and southern Garden City and also can boast of the historic cities of Georgetown and Andrews.

In Georgetown, the Kaminski House is a shining star for locals and visitors alike.

Gabriel said the new tours will be different from those previously conducted at the Kaminski House.

“Even if you have visited the museum for a tour in the past,” she said, “the new tours focusing on the social history and personal stories of the inhabitants of the home will offer our visitors an even more fascinating time with us.”

Moving forward, there will be a few changes for the tours at the Kaminski House. One of the positives of this past difficult year has been the research of staff member Jennie Fant, who conducted an enormous research project detailing the history of the owners of the Kaminski House. Fant’s research will be incorporated in the new tours. These changes will focus on the social history of the house and the stories of the people who lived in the house over the years.

Constructed circa 1769, the Kaminski House Museum was home to many prominent Georgetown residents.

The home’s pre-Revolutionary War architectural details are an elegant background to the varied interiors that help bring to life Harold and Julia Pyatt Kaminski, the home’s last residents. Mrs. Kaminski left the house and its contents to the City of Georgetown, upon her death in 1972. It was opened as a house museum in 1973. The museum was operated by the City of Georgetown for many years. The Friends of the Kaminski House assumed management of the Kaminski House on July 1, 2013.

Located at 1003 Front St., the shop at the Kaminski House Museum is open Monday–Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission for the tours is $12 per person. To make a reservation or for more information, call 843-545-4067 or visit the website at kaminskihousemuseum.org.

The Kaminski House is one of five museums in the City of Georgetown, which makes it a perfect afternoon destination for those vacationing at Georgetown County’s beaches along the Hammock Coast. The other museums are: the Rice Museum, the Georgetown County Museum, the Gullah Museum and the South Carolina Maritime Museum.

The Kaminski House is also included on a popular self-guided walking tour of Georgetown’s historic district. A free brochure highlighting the 66 properties on the tour is available at the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce Visitors Centers located at 531 Front St. in Georgetown and 28 Wall Street in the Litchfield community of Pawleys Island.

To check out other places to experience on the Hammock Coast, click here. To request a free Hammock Coast vacation guide or view a digital version, click here.

— Information compiled by Mark A. Stevens, director of tourism development, Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce