City Directories and History: POPPENHEIM HARDWARE STORE
Constructed 1891-92; facade rehabilitated 1982
“W. B. W. Howe, architect; J.D. Murphy, builder-contractor; Thomas H. Reynolds, mason
The son of an Episcopal bishop who designed the Drayton House at 25 East Battery and the William Enston Home complex at 900 King Street executed the plans for a new hardware store for the merchant Christopher P. Poppenheim. Called “an ornament to the street” in a headline for a story in the March 23, 1892, edition of the News and Courier, the Richardsonian Romanesque building rises two stories with a facade of Philadelphia pressed brick and terra cotta detailing terminating in a tile roof with a central pediment sheltering a plaque marked 1891.
The front arcaded portico was supported by cast-iron pillars set on bases of Winnsboro (S.C.) granite. The newspaper account enthusiastically described the floor of the vestibule as being formed by “the largest single block of granite ever brought to Charleston.” Poppenheim’s business had been housed since 1883 in a smaller store at 345 King Street, a more simply detailed building in the Romanesque style. Since losing its storefront in the mid-twentieth century and with the painting of its masonry, the relationship to the later structure has been obscured. The building at 363 King was rehabilitated with additions in 1982.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
Other sources of interest: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61 and the Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917 The HCF may also have additional data at: Past Perfect and further research can be uncovered at: Charleston 1861 Census Schedule or The Charleston City Guide of 1872
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