City Directories and History: CHISOLM’S OR CHISHOLM’S MILL
Constructed circa 1830
“After an 1826 fire destroyed a sawmill on this site, the Chisolm family completed a large masonry rice and lumber mill com-plex. Located at the western edge of Tradd Street, it looked out over the marshes of the Ashley River. Although damaged in a fire in 1859, the mill was subsequently rebuilt and continued to operate until it was virtually destroyed in the hurricane of 1911, an event which also dealt a final blow to the rice industry in the Lowcountry. Acquired first by the U.S. Lighthouse Department for its headquarters and later by the U.S. Coast Guard, this property continues in the hands of the latter service.
The mill’s main block, a four-story building with a central pedimented pavilion, arched windows, and decorative quoins, surmounted by a cupola, no longer survives. Nonetheless the Coast Guard uses the remaining west wing, a three-story brick building, as a storage area, machine shops, and a post exchange. A two-story building constructed circa 1915 serves as headquarters for the base.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
The well known Chisholm Rice Mills sold to customers from all over the state. In 1852 Ann H. White of Rock Hill purchased rice in bulk from the mill.
Other sources: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61, Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917, Charleston 1861 Census Schedule, and a 1872 Bird’s Eye View of Charleston, S.C. The Hist. Charleston Foundation may also have additional data at: Past Perfect
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