188 Meeting Street
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Jan. 12, 1871 – “Rev. Jonas Byrd, colored, who was active last summer with the reform party, has resumed his old business as a fish merchant at Stall #3, in the Charleston Market.”
City Directories and History: See R&R other site for Market Hall and Shed.
“The Market Hall designed by Edward Brickell White, was built in 1841. The city market sheds stretch 1,240 feet in length today but originally reached on the other side of East Bay Street to the harbor. Several sections have been rebuilt following earthquake, hurricane, and tornado damage. The street still prolongs itself to a dock and passenger terminal adjacent to the imposing Custom House, designed by Ammi B. Young.
From the late-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth, the market area contained a varied mix of commercial uses. As the city’s “Tenderloin” district, it was lined with tattoo parlors and speakeasies, or “blind tigers,” during Prohibition. These contrasted sharply with a sailors’ chapel on the northwest corner of North Market and East Bay Streets that was given to the city by the Pinckney family. The area also had an industrial impulse as home to ships’ chandlers, seafood packing warehouses, wholesale grocers, and a carriage factory. The tumbledown character of the area, accentuated by damage in a tornado in 1938, made it a thorn in the city’s side by the 1960s. Eventually “gentrification” in the form of renovations for bars, restaurants, inns, and shops, primarily geared for Charleston’s tourist economy, took over, and while old buildings were rehabilitated, new infill structures were added to the once localized landscape. New developments from Charleston Place to Majestic Square as well as ongoing plans for a new marina near the waterfront end of Market Street promise even further activity.” [Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997]
Market Hall is considered one of Charleston’s best examples of the Greek Revival style. The Market Hall is of Roman Temple form with one high story over a rusticated lower open arcade. Building materials are stucco on brick with sandstone trim. The tetrastyle Roman Doric columns of the portico help support the elaborate entablature and pediment. Bucrania and ram’s heads are located in the metopes. Cast iron rails are located on the double flight of steps that lead to the main floor of the building. Although small, the Hall is imposing as it stands above and at the head of a long arcade of market stalls. The hall was designed by Edward B. White in 1841, who practiced in Charleston from 1842-1879. Listed in the National Register June 4, 1973; Designated a National Historic Landmark November 7, 1973. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
Click here to enjoy additional historic images: Civil War Also see addition information at Market Hall and Shed
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 1872Charleston Library Society
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