City Directories and History: COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON GYMNASIUM – Constructed 1938-39 Albert Simons, architect
“This Georgian Revival style facility was constructed after the demolition of the Radcliffe-King Mansion, one of Charleston’s most important Federal houses. The three-story house had been built in 1806 by the wealthy merchant Thomas Radcliffe, whose land was developed after his death as the suburb of Radcliffeborough. His widow, Lucretia, gave important receptions and social gatherings in the house, as did the later owner Judge Mitchell King. In 1880 the dwelling became the High School of Charleston and remained in this use until 1924.
The school caretaker’s cottage with a mansard roof remains at the corner of Meeting Street and Burns Lane. On October 27, 1938, the College of Charleston pulled the house down to make way for the new gymnasium, designed by Albert Simons. Nonetheless, the woodwork was saved and much of it reused in the renovated Dock Street Theatre. The brick coping, iron fence, and gates remained intact until 1982, when all but a section along Meeting Street were removed. The contemporary addition to the gymnasium on the west sits on the former site of the Thomas Walker House, a three-story masonry dwelling with front piazzas and a balustraded parapet that was demolished in 1911 for a YMCA. This site was also formerly occupied by the William Gilliland House, destroyed by the college during an attempt to move the house off the property in 1978.”
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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