fairly famous for two things: It is Charleston's surviving
"cobble-stone" street, the stones coming in ballast from European shores
in the old sailing days, and on it is a building that tourists are told
was the old Slave Market. The myth has been exploded repeatedly, but it
persists, and since there are no black slaves it probably doesn't
matter. Authorities are positive in saying that nowhere in Charleston
was there a constituted slave market for the public auctioning of blacks
from Africa. Several houses in this vicinity were used in olden times to
quarter slaves who were to be sold on the block. Authorities also agree,
propagandists to the contrary notwithstanding, that the black slaves in
the South were in better care than were the peasantry in any other part
of the world.
CHARLESTON LIBRARY, _164 King Street_: Organized in 1748 by seventeen
young gentlemen of Charlestown, third oldest in this country, the
Charleston Library Society, a private enterprise governed by a Board of
Trustees, moved into a new fireproof building in recent years. In 1835
the society bought the building of the old South Carolina Bank, at the
northwest corner of Broad and Church Streets, using this until the
transfer to King Street. The society has more than 60,000 volumes. It
owns the only surviving file of the _South Carolina State Gazette_ and
one of three files of _The Courier_ (1803). Valuable books were lost in
the fire of 1778. In the War for Southern Independence most of the
volumes were taken to Columbia for safekeeping; those left in the
society's building were destroyed. In 1874 the old Apprentices' Society
was merged with the Charleston Library Society. In 1900, dissolving, the
South Carolina Jockey Club transferred its property to the library; the
club and the society were about of an age. Generous bequests have
greatly assisted the society.
CHARLESTON MUSEUM, _123 Rutledge Avenue_: This, the oldest Museum in the
country, is housed in the former Thomson Auditorium, built in 1899 for
conventions, with money bequeathed by John Thomson. The Charlestown
Museum was organized in 1773 and incorporated in 1915. Very fine
collections of natural history and of the history of human culture are
owned. Lately the Museum had the great good fortune to come into
possession of the priceless collection of birds preserved by the
distinguished South Carolina ornithologist, Arthur Trezevant Wayne. A
skeleton of a large whale which found its way into Charleston harbor and
was harpooned is one of the Museum's unique specimens, unique in that
the cetacean was caught in this harbor.
THE BATTERY, _White Point Gardens_: It is no use to call the Battery by
its proper name; even in Charleston, White Point Gardens is not
recognized as the Battery. Nonetheless the name of this famous and
beautiful park and promenade is White Point Gardens. Its sea walls are
laved on the south by the Ashley River and on the east by the Cooper
River; their confluence is at and off the southeast corner of the
Battery. This pleasure ground has been favorably compared with the
world's most famous plazas and promenades. It is a source of
never-ending delight to visitors. East, or High Battery begins at the
old Granville Bastion, now Omar Temple of the Mystic Shrine. It is a
great promenade, with a commanding view of the harbor seaward, with Fort
Sumter in the middle-ground. South Battery, proper, is between the East
Battery and the extension of King Street to the water. Somewhat more
than eight acres constitute South Battery, which, to the westward,
becomes the Murray Boulevard, lined, as East and South Battery are, with
fine residences. In its origin East Battery had a wall of palmetto logs
with a plank walk on top. It was swept away in the great gale of 1804.
William Crafts, Jr., originated the first stone wall, with rock ballast
from incoming ships as "riprap" to strengthen the wall. The work was
completed before 1820. In the War of 1812 guns were emplaced along East
Battery, thus, it is held, accounting for its name, The Battery. Fort
Broughton and Fort Mechanic have long since disappeared. Fort Street
became South Bay Street and later South Battery for its whole length
from East Battery through the Boulevard area to the junction with Tradd
Street a mile away. It was in 1830 that the first steps toward creating
a beautiful pleasure ground were taken. By 1852 White Point Gardens was
an accomplished fact. Fine oak and palmetto trees enhance the
attractiveness of the Battery. Years ago a bathhouse was removed. The
monument to the defenders of Fort Moultrie, commonly called the Sergeant
Jasper monument because of the figure of a soldier rescuing the flag,
was unveiled June 28 (Carolina Day), 1876, the hundredth anniversary of
the repulse of Sir Peter Parker's British fleet. The monument to William
Gilmore Simms, editor, author and historian, was erected in June, 1879.
At the foot of Meeting Street is a memorial fountain to the men of the
first submarine, Confederates. Facing Fort Sumter is a monument to the
defenders of Fort Sumter. On the Battery are relics of all the wars
Charleston has seen, the Spanish War being represented by the capstan of
the battleship _Maine_, destroyed in Havana harbor in 1898. To visit
Charleston and not to see the Battery is unthinkable. From time to time
concerts are given in the band stand. The late Andrew B. Murray
contributed generously to the improvement of the Battery and of the
driveway named in his honor.
[Illustration: _Trumbull's Portrait of General George Washington, in
the City Hall_]
THE COLONIAL COMMON, _and Ashley River Embankment_: In Charleston
beautiful Colonial Lake is The Pond. It came into being in the 1880's
with the reclaiming of the area. The official designation is The
Colonial Common and Ashley River Embankment. About this salt-water pond
are garden areas, and west of it is the new Moultrie Playground which
greatly improves the appearance of the neighborhood. Some of
Charleston's most desirable residences face the pond. Off its northwest
corner is the Baker Sanatorium, one of the South's largest and most
completely equipped private hospitals, founded by Archibald E. Baker,
surgeon. Less than fifty years ago there was a causeway at the head of
Broad Street; nowadays the whole area is populated. Colonial Lake is
bounded by Broad Street, Rutledge Avenue, Beaufain Street, and Ashley
Avenue, paramount traffic arteries. Its water is from the Ashley River,
regulated by a flood-gate.
MEDICAL COLLEGE, _16 Lucas Street_: While the Medical College of the
State of South Carolina dates from 1823, it did not move to the present
site until 1913. For years before that it was in Queen Street. The
college maintains schools of medicine, pharmacy and nursing. _The News
and Courier_ is quoted: "The early faculty included men of national and
international reputation, who gave the college a prestige which placed
it at once amongst the foremost institutions of the kind, and among its
graduates were not a few whose fame added further luster to their alma
mater.... The sessions of the college were carried on without
intermission until the outbreak of the War Between the States when
lectures had to be discontinued. In 1865 the college was reopened, and
in spite of adverse conditions has been in successful operation ever
since." In the session of the Legislature in 1913 the college passed
under State control.
THE ROPER HOSPITAL, _15 Lucas Street_: On the site of the old City
Hospital is the Roper Hospital; riverward is its auxiliary pavilion, the
Riverside Infirmary, a high-class private hospital. The Roper is a
general hospital operated by the Medical Society of South Carolina, the
City of Charleston and the County of Charleston contributing to the care
of "free" patients. The institution includes a special building for
contagious diseases. The hospital owes its origin to the benevolence of
Colonel Thomas Roper. In 1849 the Medical Society proceeded to arrange
the building of a hospital, "prompted by the deficient and faulty
hospital accommodations of the city at that time." The City Council
appropriated $20,000 and a lot was acquired at Queen and Mazyck Streets.
Public spirited citizens swelled the building fund. The building was
completed in 1852. Before it was completely furnished and equipped, it
had to be opened because of the yellow fever epidemic that raged in
1852. In effect, the old Roper Hospital was leased to the City of
Charleston, the arrangement between the Board of Trustees and the City
Council beginning in 1856 and terminating in 1865. With the evacuation
of Charleston by the Confederates, the Union invaders took it over; its
trustees were impotent. Next to the Roper, the city improvised and
operated its own hospital, and the Roper trustees closed their
institution in 1871. The city hospital was virtually destroyed in the
earthquake of 1886. The City Council had it transferred to Lucas Street.
On this site the present Roper building was erected. It has been greatly
enlarged in the last twenty years. Nurses' homes are on the property,
the student nurses being enrolled at the Medical College.
ASHLEY HALL, _172 Rutledge Avenue_: Originally one of the historic
mansions of Charleston, Ashley Hall, a preparatory school for young
ladies, draws its students from many states. In the language of Miss
Mary Vardrine McBee, founder and principal: "It is but a little while
since Ashley Hall was a venturous experiment. Begun in the conviction
that South Carolina and her sister States were ready to welcome a school
for girls of high intellectual standing, while cherishing still those
amenities of feminine culture which give Southern life its distinctive
charm, Ashley Hall was welcomed in its very inception. It had hardly
been opened before the necessity of enlargement, alike of building and
staff, became apparent." The grounds about this fine mansion are among
the most beautiful in the South. Annually a Shakespearean play is
performed in the garden, the students portraying the rôles.
PRINCESS LOUISE, _Site of the Landing Stage_: Princess Louise, daughter
of Queen Victoria, was in Charleston January 19-24, 1883, first member
of the English Royal family to come to the capital of the former Royal
Province. She was accompanied by her husband, the Marquis of Lorne, then
Governor General of Canada, later the Duke of Argyle. In residence at
the Charleston Hotel she received "pleasantly a number of our citizens,
both ladies and gentlemen." For her convenience a landing stage was
provided at the foot of King Street, on the Battery (the Fort Sumter
Hotel is on this site). As the Princess was about to embark on H.M.S.
_Dido_, the Battery was "densely crowded with people, including a number
of ladies." The German Artillery fired a salute and the _Dido_ answered.
"The pure splendor of the Japonicas," said _The News and Courier_,
"reminded the Princess of the old home at Osborne, where so much of her
young life was spent."
[Illustration: _City Hall_]
[Illustration: _College of Charleston_]
[Illustration: _The Old Exchange_]
H. A. MIDDLETON'S HOUSE, _68 South Battery Street_: Henry Augustus
Middleton, of the illustrious Middleton family, died in Charleston in
March, 1887, in his ninety-fifth year. He was at the time of his death,
_The News and Courier_ said, "the oldest living representative of a
family which for more than two centuries has been closely and
prominently identified with the history of South Carolina.... He was a
school boy when Marengo was being fought and was a young man whose
education was finished when the great Napoleon closed his career at
Waterloo." The same newspaper further said that Mr. Middleton "was a
conspicuous representative of a society and class which are fast passing
into tradition." He was owner and operator of many great plantations,
and before the War for Southern Independence among the leading owners of
slaves. He married Harriott, daughter of Cleland Kinloch, of Wee Haw, in
Georgetown County. The fine old property is now owned by Dr. W. J.
Pettus. Through Mr. Middleton's life and for twenty-five years
thereafter the sea wall on the west side of the yard was washed by the
Ashley River at high tide. The marsh expanse to the west is in the
Boulevard area.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER INFIRMARY, _264 Calhoun Street_: The principal
building of the St. Francis Xavier Infirmary was built in the bishopric
of the Right Reverend William Thomas Russell, of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Charleston, but the wing on Ashley Avenue is much older.
Sisters of Mercy have supervision over the Xavier in all its
departments, including the school for nurses. The hospital enjoys high
rating by the national hospital authorities. The building is commodious,
convenient and fireproof.
LIBERTY TREE SITE, _22 North Alexander Street_: The Liberty Tree in old
Mazyckboro under which Christopher Gadsden, William Johnson and others
impatient with English treatment of the colonies met and debated has
gone, but a tablet marks the site. The inscription reads: "Near this
spot once stood the Liberty Tree where Colonial independence was first
advocated by Christopher Gadsden, A.D. 1766, and where ten years later
the _Declaration of Independence_ was first heard and applauded by South
Carolinians." This tablet was erected by the Sons of the Revolution in
1905. It was under the tree in a pasture that patriots nurtured high
treason against the English Crown.
WILLIAM WASHINGTON HOUSE, _8 South Battery Street_: Here lived Colonel
William Washington, a Virginian, who achieved distinction in the
Revolution, mainly in South Carolina. The fine old house was built by
Thomas Savage about 1769 and was purchased by Colonel Washington after
independence had been recognized. His fiancée, member of a proud South
Carolina family, presented him with a flag when she learned he had none.
It was a piece taken from a handsome drapery of red silk and became
known as the Eutaw flag, for the Battle of Eutaw Springs. In 1827 Mrs.
Washington, his widow, gave this battle-stained banner to the Washington
Light Infantry which now owns it. Latterly the property has been owned
by Julian Mitchell, outstanding lawyer, president of the South Carolina
National Bank.
HAMPTON PARK, _Head of Cleveland Street_: Notwithstanding its
comparative youth Hampton Park, named for General Wade Hampton, is a
distinguished pleasure ground, its gardens developed to a high state of
loveliness. Some time after the South Carolina, Inter-State and West
Indian Exposition (1901-02) the city took over the property and
developed it into a modern park. Its sunken garden, with ducks and geese
and swans playing in the water, is appealing, and about it on all sides
are flower beds, profusely beautiful in their seasons. Large canebreaks
are growing near the sunken garden. An attractive driveway goes about
the property, but vehicles are not permitted within the garden area. A
section of the tract, bordering the Ashley River, was ceded to The
Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, after the World War. A
stroll through Hampton Park's flowers in spring and summer is thoroughly
worth while. Features include a zoo and an aviary.
COUNTY COURT HOUSE, _Broad and Meeting Streets_: In years when
Charleston was Charles Town, when Indians were roaming these coastal
woods, the State House stood at the northwest corner of Broad and
Meeting Streets. It was burned in 1788, after Columbia, on the Congaree,
had become the capital of the State. Not long after the fire the county
built its court house here. The building was renovated and enlarged
several years ago, the court room being in the annex. Records running
back to the Proprietary era are in the offices of the Clerk of Court. A
legend persists that the Court House is the old State House, but it is a
mistaken legend, for it was burned in 1788. From its entrance Governor
John Rutledge first read the _Declaration of Independence_.
UNITED STATES POST OFFICE, _Broad and Meeting Streets_: Since 1896 the
United States post office has been in the granite building at the
southwest corner of Broad and Meeting Streets, on the site of the old
(police) Guard House which suffered heavy damage in the earthquake of
1886. Southward of the building is an attractive park which is not open
to the public. The United States court and its officials and attachés
have quarters in the building. Previously the post office was in the old
Exchange, at the foot of Broad Street. On the four corners of Broad and
Meeting Streets are: Southwest, post office; southeast, St. Michael's
Episcopal Church, on the site of the first English church; northeast,
City Hall, the building erected for the United States Bank; on the site
of an early market place; northwest, County Court House, on the site of
the old State House. (Consult the Index.)
UNITED STATES CUSTOMS HOUSE, _East Bay Street, at Market_: Work on this,
one of the handsomest government buildings, was begun in 1850 and was
proceeding when the War for Southern Independence interrupted. After
Appomattox it was completed, but it is much smaller than the original
plans prescribed, explaining the fine esplanade effect in front. It is a
Roman-Corinthian building of white marble, and its steps, both front and
back, have elicited warm admiration from appreciative visitors. Piles,
grillage and concrete were used in the foundations. The building houses
the customs service, the army engineer offices, the weather bureau, the
public health surgeon, the immigration service, the internal revenue
offices and the bureau of steamboat inspection. In the basement from
time to time are stored quantities of "contraband" confiscated by the
Coast Guard and other federal prohibition agents. Prior to 1850 the old
Fitzsimmons wharf was on the site of the Customs House quay.
[Illustration: _Middleton Place
Surviving Wing Tudor House_]
[Illustration: _Middleton Place
Lovely Vista in the Gardens_]
SOUTH CAROLINA HALL, _72 Meeting Street_: This is the property of the
South Carolina Society, built in 1804 as a free school and meeting
place, but the society dates to 1736 when it was formed by French
Protestants for charitable purposes. In the beginning it was known as
the Two-Bit Club. Through years it has done noble work in assisting the
families of deceased members and in educating their children. The porch
over Meeting Street is notably attractive; it was added when the
building was improved and enlarged. Members have made liberal donations
to this society, as mural tablets in the hall attest. The St. Andrew's
Society, organized by Scots in 1729, is quartered in this building,
accounting for the presence of tables and chairs used in the Secession
convention in St. Andrew's Hall, Broad Street, burned in the fire of
1861.
THE SWORD GATES, _32 Legare Street_: Years and years ago, a famous
school for girls was on this property under the principalship of Madame
Talvande, survivor of the Domingo massacres. It is one of the most
desirable residential properties in Charleston. It was built in 1776.
Through the Sword Gates (1815-20), uncommonly fine examples of ornate
and graceful iron work, one peeps into a beckoning garden, protected by
high brick walls. The ballroom in the house is known as one of the most
elegant in Charleston. There are really two houses, the older, of brick,
on the north; the wooden building has broad piazzas on two sides,
overlooking the large garden to the south and west. For years, after the
Confederate War, Colonel Charles H. Simonton, United States Circuit
Judge, distinguished Confederate officer, and his family lived here. Now
it is the property of a granddaughter of President Abraham Lincoln, who
owns also the old Magwood Gardens in St. Andrew's Parish on the Ashley
River Road. Kinspeople of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln have long been resident
in the Barnwell section of this State.
BETH ELOHIM SYNAGOGUE, _74 Hasell Street_: Charleston has had a Jewish
congregation since 1750. The tabernacle of Beth Elohim was dedicated in
March, 1843, and was among the first synagogues in which an organ was
installed. To this congregation is attributed the Jewish Reform movement
in the United States, which had its beginning in 1824. The Beth Elohim
congregation had a tabernacle on this site just after the Revolution; it
was destroyed in the fire of 1838. The incorporation of the congregation
dates to 1781. The present tabernacle is a fine example of the Athenian
style in architecture. Certain changes in the interior were made about
1880.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, _26 George Street_: While this
handsome and commodious building was completed in 1912, the association
in Charleston was organized in 1854 and is one of the oldest. Its
beginning was less than ten years after the Young Men's Christian
Association was founded in London, England, June 6, 1844; the Charleston
date was February, 1854. The Charleston association moved into its own
building at 208 King Street in 1889 and there remained until it occupied
the present building at 26 George Street. Clarence Olney Getty has been
general secretary since 1917.
YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, _76 Society Street_: This
Charleston branch of a great association had its beginning in 1903. Its
first quarters were in an old residence at 21 George Street, the modern
building coming with the growth of membership and the increase of
community calls.
GRACE CHURCH, _100 Wentworth Street_: Its congregation founded in 1840,
its corner stone laid in July, 1847, Grace Episcopal Church was
consecrated November 9, 1848. The Reverend Charles Cotesworth Pinckney,
D.D., was its rector from 1850 to his death in 1898, nearly a half
century. The Reverend William Way, D.D., has been rector more than a
quarter of a century. Grace has one of the largest and most prosperous
Episcopalian congregations in the South.
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, _126 Coming Street_: This is frequently called St.
Paul's, Radcliffeboro, as its site was outside the town when the edifice
was consecrated in March, 1816; the congregation was founded in 1811.
Its first rector was the Reverend Dr. Percy, an Englishman, who in 1772
took charge of the Bethesda school near Savannah, established by George
Whitefield. St. Paul's is a handsome building with Gothic tower and an
impressive portico, with four Doric columns.
ST. PETER'S P.E. CHURCH, _Rutledge and Sumter Streets_: On this site of
Christ Church is St. Peter's, so named from the old church at No. 8
Logan Street. Through arrangement of the two vestries, the new St.
Peter's came into the old St. Peter's properties. The Logan Street
church was burned in the fire of 1861. Its graveyard is maintained.
Possibly it was on this site that Hessian soldiers were drilled during
the Revolution, as Charles Fraser says they went through their military
exercises in Logan Street.
CONVENT OF OUR LADY OF MERCY, _Legare and Queen Streets_: This large
brick building is of quite recent construction, but the Sisters of Mercy
have been in Charleston more than a hundred years. Misses Mary Joseph
and Honora O'Gorman, their niece, Mary Teresa Barry, fourteen years and
six months old, and Miss Mary Burke arrived in Charleston November 23,
1829, coming on the invitation of Bishop John M. England. The Misses
O'Gorman were natives of Cork, living in Baltimore, Maryland. December
10 they accepted the habit of religion, with Sister Mary Joseph as
superioress of the new Community. In a small house on Friend (now
Legare) Street the Sisters established the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy
in December, 1830. Two years later the Bishop established a seminary and
appointed Sister Mary Martha (Miss Honora O'Gorman) to its supervision.
The Orphanage, Queen and Logan Streets, was established in 1840, under
the care of the Sisters. The St. Francis Xavier Infirmary, Ashley Avenue
and Calhoun Street, dates to 1882; it began in the McHugh residence,
Magazine Street. In 1870 the Sisters acquired the old Nathaniel Russell
house, 51 Meeting Street, relinquishing it on the completion of the new
Convent. From the Charleston Community of Sisters of Mercy have gone
other communities into both Carolinas and Georgia. Nor yellow fever nor
war nor earthquake has swerved these consecrated women. They were angels
of mercy in the yellow fever epidemics of 1835 and 1852. They nursed
friend and foe alike in the War for Southern Independence.
Notwithstanding the alarm and excitement in the time of the earthquake
(1886) they ministered calmly, sweetly, efficiently to the sick and the
injured.
[Illustration: _Miles Brewton House, 27 King Street_]
[Illustration: _"Sword Gates," 32 Legare Street_]