100 Meeting Street
City Directories and History: FIREPROOF BUILDING
Constructed 1811-17; earthquake damage and repair 1886-87; restored 1970 – Robert Mills, architect; John Spidle, construction architect; John Gordon, Brick mason; James Rowe and John White, stonecutters “Originally constructed as a state office building with fireproof storage for records of the Charleston District, this structure was designed by Robert Mills at the city’s behest in 1822 as part of the new city square plan. Mills’s plans relied primarily on the removal of
combustible materials from the fabric of the building. Brick, brownstone, and stucco for the exterior; stone groin and barrel vaults; stairways lit by a central skylight; and cast- iron windows were key components of the plans. The completed building differed from Mills’s original plans. John Spidle, the onsite construction supervisor, may have directed the use of plain roughcast stucco columns instead of the fluted columns, the elimination of the belt course, the substitution of quoins for horizontal channeling, and changes to the cornice and the third-story window openings as designed by Mills. After serving generally as the county property record office and housing functions such as the coroner’s and tax offices, the building was leased to the South Carolina Historical Society in 1955 and officially became the Society’s headquarters in 1968.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
See more about Geo. Washington’s Return trip to Charleston under the MORE INFORMATION link found under the primary image.
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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