84 Broad Street
The Rock Hill Herald reported on Sept. 3, 1885 – “A tornado struck Charleston on Aug. 25th doing great damage. The new Ashley River Bridge, under construction was swept away. On Sullivan’s Island a number of houses were destroyed and the new Brighton Hotel Casino fell to the ground. Water came over the battery and damaged the wall and pavements. The roof of the courthouse was lost. Ships at the waterfront on the Cooper River were damaged. The hospital was blown down and a number of churches were damaged and unroofed.”
City Directories and History: OLD SOUTH CAROLINA STATEHOUSE/ CHARLESTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE Constructed 1753; rehabilitated after fire 1788-92; additions and renovations 1883, 1921, 1940, 1968; restoration planned 1997-2000
First constructed in 1753 as the provincial capitol for the colony of South Carolina, the Charleston County Courthouse is one of the most important buildings in the state. Standing at its prominent position at the northwest corner of Broad and Meeting Streets, the old planned Civic Square, the Courthouse has withstood many vicissitudes in its nearly two and a half centuries of existence. Wars, fires, neglect, and numerous reno-vations and additions obscured its detailing until a recent architectural study and the advocacy of community organizations have led to a planned restoration of the building’s 1792 appearance.
The structure originally served the ideal of symbolic display with its scale and plan indicative to citizens and travelers to Charleston of the power of English imperial rule. Originally two stories, the building contained a generous lobby and a grand staircase that opened from the pedimented engaged portico on Broad Street—all of which provided an appropriate setting for the affairs of state. The provincial court met in a large ground-floor courtroom, while the Commons House of Assembly and the Royal Governor’s Council Chamber occupied separate quarters on the second floor. The latter was a lavishly finished room with paneling and gilded Ionic pilasters in which the governor sat in a ceremonial chair (which still survives) under a carved and gilded royal coat of arms. It was here that great affairs of state were announced to the public from a balcony overlooking Meeting Street. Here, too, after the end of royal government, the Declaration of Independence was first read in South Carolina.
The building burned, suspiciously, during the Constitutional Ratification Convention of 1788. Debate during the convention divided Lowcountry merchants and planters eager for a strong national government and restoration of trade with Great Britain from farmers and upcountry planters desiring state autonomy. Determined to retain the state capitol, Charlestonians rebuilt within the shell of the statehouse in a Neoclassical style and added a third story. Some sources hint that James Hoban, the Irish-born architect of the White House then in residence in Charleston, may have assisted with the design and construc-tion of the new statehouse. The restored building included state circuit courts and sheriff’s offices on the ground floor off the lobby, federal district and circuit courts on the second floor, and rooms on the third floor that variously housed the Charleston Library Society, The Charleston Museum, and later the South Carolina Medical Society. Every visitor to Charleston from Lafayette to President James Monroe went to see the Museum. A renovation in 1883 destroyed the central lobby and, therefore, the old circulation patterns through the building. In 1926 and 1941 insensitive additions doubled the size of the building and a maze of corridors and partitions obscured the fabric of the original Courthouse. The building was heavily damaged during Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
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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Preservation Art at Work: Courtesy of Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art: Rick Rhodes – photographer, Ronald Ramsey artist – preservationist, 2017. (For the last several decades, native Charlestonian Ronald Wayne Ramsey has focused on meticulously documenting historical buildings—particularly those slated for demolition—in his hometown. As old buildings in the historically-minded city become condemned and readied for demolition, he secrets himself inside and liberates various seemingly mundane objects from their impending destruction. Such objects, like hinges, shutter dogs, decorative ironwork, doorknobs, and other ubiquitous building artifacts gain new relevance once they become part of his salvaged collection, which traces architectural styles from Charleston’s rich architectural legacy. Along with these objects, Ramsey creates fastidiously detailed drawings of old building facades in the city. Text from the Ahead of the Wrecking Ball Exhibit – 2017)
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