City Directories and History: MARINE HOSPITAL
Constructed 1831-34 Robert Mills, architect
“Robert Mills, a Charleston native, had moved to Baltimore and was working for the federal government when funds were appropriated for construction and operation of a marine hospital in his hometown. Mills served as the architect for the Marine Hospital, the city’s first Gothic Revival structure. Initially built for sick and disabled merchant seamen, it has since been used as a teaching hospital by the Medical University of South Carolina, a Confederate military hospital, a free school for black children, an orphanage, and a library and office space for the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston.
Rectangular in plan, the Mills building boasts Gothic ornamentation such as lancet arches and cluster or quatrefoil-shaped columns supporting the piazzas. It served as a hospital until after the Civil War. Later it was run by the Reverend Daniel Jenkins as an orphanage for African American children, many of whom donned hand uniforms and performed on the streets of Charleston. The Jenkins Orphanage band later earned an international reputation, visiting England, and was given credit for helping develop the dance called “The Charleston.” The Reverend Jenkins’s son Edmund studied music in Europe and was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in England. He became a figure in the Harlem Renaissance but died before attaining recognition of his significant body of work.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
Also see the report on the Marine Hospital – 1828.
Robert Mills, the well-known federal architect, created a structure of charm and delicacy in Charleston’s Marine Hospital. The structure, constructed ca. 1833, is two stories above a raised basement. The roof is hipped and a double-tiered porch is located over an arcaded basement. The façade is seven bays wide. The subtle Gothic style with the token pointed arches, pointed windows, and the clustered columns, then was considered a fitting kind of environment for hospitals, which were associated with medieval monasteries. Even the double-tiered porch railing follows a medieval motif.
The main entrance door has large fanlight and sidelights. The porticoes were an adaptation to climate and acted as weather controls. The building was originally double its present size, with two long wings projecting from the rear. These were removed because of extensive fire damage before the building was restored. Mills erected a number of marine hospitals around the country on much the same plan. They were established to take care of grounded seamen who became public charges. Listed in the National Register November 7, 1973; Designated a National Historic Landmark November 7, 1973.
(Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History)
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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