Joel R. Poinsett Archives - Greenville County

A National Register Property

City Directories and History: The Poinsett Hotel was one of the first skyscrapers to be constructed in Greenville. Named after Joel R. Poinsett, the Secretary of War under President

Postcard image of the Elk’s Club and the Poinsett Club in downtown Greenville. Courtesy of the Willis Postcard Collection – 2016

Fillmore, the hotel was built on the site of the Mansion House, an 1824 resort hotel. Built in 1925 at a cost of 1.5 million dollars, the Poinsett Hotel was designed by William L. Stoddard, a New York architect, and built by the J.E. Sirrine Company of Greenville. The Poinsett is a twelve-story skyscraper with a narrow rectangular plan and an L-shaped façade. The façade is composed in three parts: a base, an intermediate shaft, and a capital. The four-story base is highlighted by tall arched windows that span the second and third stories. A wide cornice separates the base from the unornamented shaft. A broad frieze with terracotta festoons and urns between small transom windows is above the capital story windows.

A full cornice with dentils and modillion blocks surmounts the frieze. A balustraded parapet is above the cornice. The Poinsett Hotel marks an era of Greenville’s building boom and growth in the 1920s. The hotel featured a ballroom, a convention hall, a main dining room, private dining rooms, a grill room, a lounge, eight to ten shops and stores, and 210 guest rooms, each with a private bath. Listed in the National Register July 1, 1982.

View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property. In addition, the Historic Resources of Greenville, ca. 1810-ca. 1930 includes historical background information for this and other related National Register properties.(Courtesy of South Carolina Department of Archives and History)

The hotel originally cost $1,500,000. to construct in 1925. Poinsett Hotel

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R&R HISTORY THREAD: JOEL POINSETT

TEXT – NR NOMINATION

NATIONAL REGISTER – IMAGE(S)

Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.

Do you have information to share and preserve? Family, school, church, or other older photos and stories are welcome. Send them digitally through the “Share Your Story” link, so they too might be posted on Roots and Recall.

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IMAGE GALLERY – Courtesy of photographer Bill Segars, 2010

10 North Church Street – Christ Episcopal Church

City Directories and History: Historically, Christ Episcopal Church is Greenville’s oldest organized religious body (1820) as well as the city’s oldest church building (1852-1854). It has traditionally been recognized as an outstanding example of Gothic architecture. Each addition has been in keeping with its style and original plan for a cruciform building. A magnificent stained glass window by Mayer of Germany is a memorial to Ellison Capers, rector of Christ Church (1866-88), bishop of the Diocese of

R&R HISTORY LINK: the Episcopal Church of Nativity – Union, S.C.

South Carolina (1893-1908), and Confederate brigadier general. In the churchyard surrounding the building are buried former governor of South Carolina Benjamin Franklin Perry, several Greenville mayors, many Confederate war dead, and the first Greenville man lost in World War I. Also interred here are the parents and son of the first

Christ Church Episcopal Church

Bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, Vardry McBee, the “Father of Greenville,” and many other church and civic leaders. The Reverend John DeWitt McCollough is the credited architect. Listed in the National Register May 6, 1971. (Courtesy of South Carolina Department of Archives and History)

R&R Note: The Rev. John D. McCollough was a prolific designer and helped build some eighteen churches across the Carolinas, most in in the Gothic or Carpenter Gothic styles of architecture. Importantly, the firm of Willis and Dudley of N.Y. was also involved in the procurement of windows and furniture for the new church. See PDF this page and the link to Nativity Episcopal for further details.

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R&R HISTORY LINK: Article of SCHS Mag., “Disloyal in the Upper Districts of SC During the Civil War” by J.T. Otten

R&R HISTORY LINK: the Trinity Episcopal Church of Society Hill SC

R&R HISTORY LINK: the Advent Episcopal Church of Spartanburg SC

R&R HISTORY LINK: TEXT – NR NOMINATION

R&R HISTORY LINK: NATIONAL REGISTER – IMAGE(S)

Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.

Thanks!

IMAGE GALLERY courtesy of photographer Bill Segars – 2005

120 South Main Street – Poinsett Hotel

Christ Episcopal Church – Greenville’s Oldest Church

10 North Church Street – Christ Episcopal Church

From the Porch

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