The annual Museum Mile Month returns next month, offering discounted access in January to historic museums and other sites along a stretch of Meeting Street.

It's not just for the tourists, according to organizers, who noted that attendance is largely driven by local residents. The promotion pass offers access to a dozen attractions during a typical lull for the tourism industry.

Tickets are $35 for adults and $10 for children under 12.

The Charleston Museum started the collaborative promotion in 2007, when the first pass cost $20 and was good for the inaugural weekend in March 2008. The details have changed over the years, and while the pandemic hampered attendance for a few years, numbers are on track to potentially surpass 2019 sales.

Carl Borick, director of the Charleston Museum, said that while the promotion was originally expected to bring more tourists in the door, locals account for the majority of ticket holders.

Tickets go on sale in October each year. In 2019, more than 1,800 were sold, about 200 more than last year.

Borick said the deal promotes local tourism during one of the area's slowest months, between the holidays and the annual Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in early February. It offers a marketing opportunity for smaller museums and historic sites.

The Powder Magazine Museum on Cumberland Street participates in the Museum Mile Month each year.

"While we are becoming a town that sees tourism year-round, we tend to see more local tourism than out-of-town visitors in the winter months," Borick said. "I always love the phrase 'being a tourist in your hometown' and this is an opportunity for people to embrace that."

Most ticket holders tend to visit at least four sites, Borick said. Of the 1,600 attendees last year, each of the house museums recorded more than 800 visitors, which was more than the Charleston Museum itself. The data points to people using the all-inclusive ticket to check out places they perhaps haven't seen before, like the historic homes, Borick said.

The Powder Magazine Museum on Cumberland Street is one of the participating attractions.

Director Katherine Pemberton said the pass helps draw connections between Charleston's buildings and its past. For example, during the Siege of Charleston in 1780, the gunpowder was moved out of the magazine and into the basement of the Old Exchange Building, stored and hidden behind a fake wall, she said.

"It's stories like this that show how the history and stories told in each museum are connected," she said. "That is especially important as we look ahead to the (nation's) 250th anniversary in 2026."

Pemberton said feedback shows passes are now purchased as holiday gifts. And the promotion has become a yearly outing for some families.

"We love seeing visitors from around the world, but we really enjoy seeing people from around the corner," Pemberton said. "Whether people are moving to the area, are longtime Charlestonians or just haven't been here in a long time, it's a great chance to see what's new at each site."

The Powder Museum is adding pop-up panels with insight on the British Occupied Charles Town from 1780 to 1782. Extensive research was completed earlier this year to showcase life for 'everyday people' during the occupation.

The Charleston Museum added a new exhibit this year that goes beyond the Civil War and into modern times.

The Children's Museum of the Lowcountry is participating in the Charleston Museum Mile promotion in January.

Other participating sites, like the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry and the S.C. Historical Society Museum have completed exhibit updates over the last year.

Tickets are on sale at charlestonsmuseummile.org through Dec. 31. Afterward, they'll be available only at the visitor centers downtown and in Mount Pleasant, North Charleston and on Kiawah Island.