Part 1

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LANDMARKS of CHARLESTON

INCLUDING DESCRIPTION OF _An Incomparable Stroll_

BY THOMAS PETIGRU LESESNE AUTHOR OF _History of Charleston County_

RICHMOND GARRETT & MASSIE, INCORPORATED MCMXXXIX

COPYRIGHT, 1939, BY GARRETT & MASSIE, INCORPORATED RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

_Foreword_

One's task in discussing Landmarks of Charleston is to describe the more outstanding from the beginning of Charles Town to this present year. It is an agreeable task, but it leaves undone some things one wishes he had done.

An Incomparable Stroll will give the visitor information of people and places of _Charles Town_ under the Lords Proprietors, _Charlestown_ under the Royal Government, and _Charleston_ under the Republic.

The gardens which bring thousands of visitors to Charleston each spring are reached by excellent highways. Middleton Place and Magnolia-on-the-Ashley are on the Ashley River Road; Cypress off the Coastal Highway, United States 52. These gardens are so different that they are not competitive, and the visitor questing for beauty that baffles description should see all three, and, time permitting, journey toward Georgetown and enjoy the famous Belle Isle Gardens, on Winyah Bay.

In this work the index has been compiled with great care and should be consulted freely. Charleston's points of interest are too scattered to be grouped on a single route. Near Charleston are traces of fortifications used in the Revolution and in the War for Southern Independence. They are too numerous for individual enumeration. Books have been written about them.

From the building of the Colonial Powder Magazine to the building of the Cooper River Bridge, the third highest vehicular bridge in the world, is a tremendous gap.

It is unnecessary to say that the author has consulted many authorities; his quotations suffice to reveal this.

Thomas Petigru Lesesne. Charleston, South Carolina.

_Contents_

PAGE Foreword v Historic Charleston 1 An Incomparable Stroll 6 Landmarks of Charleston (Guide Section) 13 Index 105

_Illustrations_

PAGE St. Michael's Episcopal Church _Frontispiece_ Fort Sumter from the Air 6 Looking North on Meeting Street 18 St. Philip's Episcopal Church 25 William Rhett House 31 The Izard Houses 31 Unitarian Church 36 St. John's Lutheran Church 36 Huguenot Church 36 First (Scotch) Presbyterian Church 43 Bethel Methodist Church 43 Alluring Views of Magnolia-on-Ashley 49 St. Mary's Catholic Church 56 Cathedral of St. John the Baptist 61 Trinity Methodist Church 61 Trumbull's Portrait of General George Washington 67 City Hall 71 College of Charleston 71 The Old Exchange 71 Middleton Place 76 Miles Brewton House 81 "Sword Gates" 81 Gateway, Home of Herbert Ravenel Sass 81 Lord William Campbell House 86 William Washington House 86 Monument to Defenders of Fort Moultrie 94 Colonial Powder Magazine 94 Strawberry, Chapel of Ease to Biggin 99 St. James Church, Goose Creek 99

LANDMARKS OF CHARLESTON

_Historic Charleston_

Why Charleston? Three European nations were claiming this southern country--the Spaniards called it Florida, the French Carolina and the English Southern Virginia. The Spanish claim was through Ponce de Leon, 1512; the French through Verazzano, a Florentine, 1524, and the English, it is said, by virtue of a grant by the Pope of Rome, and through John Cabot and his son, Sebastian, both of them in the service of the English King Henry VII, 1497-98. To Edward, Earl of Clarendon, and his associates Charles II of England gave a charter in 1663--"excited by a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the Gospel."

The Proprietors planted colonists on the Albemarle and the Cape Fear, North Carolina. Things did not go well and many of these people subsequently found their way to old Charles Town, which was established, not by English design, but through circumstances. Robert Sandford, "Secretary and Chiefe Register for the Lords Proprietors of their County of Clarendon," had explored this coast in the summer of 1666, and would have seen the site of Charles Town, but his Indian pilot confused his bearings "until it was too late." Sandford however, renamed the River Kiawah the Ashley in honor of Ashley-Cooper, later the Earl of Shaftesbury, one of the Proprietors.

Sandford, off Edisto, near Charles Town, was sought by the Cassique, or Chief, of the Kiawah Indians and importuned to plant an English colony near the Kiawah village on the west bank of the Kiawah (Ashley) River. The Cassique, Sandford related, was known to the Clarendon colonists. Sandford agreed to investigate, but missed the entrance and chose to lose no further time by putting back. The Sandford report so impressed the Proprietors that they authorized the planting of a colony, not at Charles Town, but at Port Royal, to the south. Colonel William Sayle, soldier of fortune, was commissioned Governor when Sir John Yeamans, already Governor of the more northern colony, left the adventurers. Three ships were in the enterprise, but one of these was separated. The other two made land at present-day Bull's Island in the spring of 1670. The Cassique of Kiawah was there and Governor Sayle was importuned to abandon Port Royal and bring his colonists to the Kiawah country.

Sayle, however, followed his instructions and proceeded to Port Royal, arriving in mid-April of 1670. The Cassique of Kiawah had told the colonists that the Indians were on the warpath and his story was confirmed. Carteret, who was in the "friggott" _Carolina_, flagship, says: "Wee weighed from Porte Royall and ran in between St. Hellena and Combohe (Combahee)." Here the first English election in Carolina was held, five men "to be of the Council."

The sloop which had come with the _Carolina_ was "despatched to Keyawah to view that land soe much commended by the Casseeka," and soon returned with "a report that ye land was much more fitt to plant than in St. Hellena which begott a question.... The Governour adhearing for Keyawah and most of us being of a temper to follow though we know noe reason for it, imitating ye rule of ye inconsiderate multitude, cryed out for Keyawah, yet some dissented from it being sure to make a new voyage, but difident of a better convenience, those that inclyned for Porte Royall were looked upon strangely, so thus wee came to Keyawah."

So, it was the Cassique, or chief, of the Kiawahs, that was responsible for the choice of the site of old Charles Town. First the colonists named their settlement Albemarle Point, but in the fall of 1670 they renamed it Charles Town, in honor of their King, Charles II. Carolina they named for him also, but the French had previously called it Carolina for their King, Charles IX. However, there were no French in Carolina when the English colonists arrived; the French effort at colonization had ended in tragedy, a hundred years before.

No sooner were the colonists established at Albemarle Point (where the Seaboard Air Line Railroad touches the west shore of the Ashley) than they looked with favor on the peninsula between the Ashley and the Cooper (the Indians called this river the Etiwan), as much the more desirable for their town, and in 1680 the change was officially in force. The new town was facilitated by the voluntary action of Henry Hughes and of John Coming and "Affera, his Wife," in surrendering land for the new town. John Culpeper was commissioned to plan it. "The Town is regularly laid out into large and capacious streets," said "T.A., Gent.," clerk aboard H.M.S. _Richmond_, "in the year 1682."

Charles Town on the peninsula prospered as a port and as the capital of the plantations. To ships in its commodious harbor came the things of the fields, the woods and the streams. Constantly new people were arriving and the outpost of civilization rapidly took on the appearance of European manners and customs, notwithstanding the incongruity of savages, red and black, and Indian traders in their bizarre garb. It was _Charles Town_ under the Proprietors, _Charlestown_ under the Royal Government, and _Charleston_ since its incorporation in 1783.

This Carolina metropolis has had part in Indian, Spanish and French wars. It has had bold adventures with pirates. It was conspicuous in the Revolution and in the War for Southern Independence. It furnished men for the famous Palmetto Regiment in the Mexican War. The War of 1812 little affected it. Its men served in the Spanish-American War and the World War. It is said that from the tops of the highest buildings come under the eye more historic places than come under it from any other place in the United States, explaining the slogan, _Charleston--America's Most Historic City_. It is in order to remind that William Allen White, in an address, said that "Charleston is the most civilized town in America," and that William Howard Taft, then President of the United States, pronounced it, "the most convenient port to Panama."

In Charleston survive buildings that were erected during the Proprietary Government, many buildings that were erected during the Royal Government. Survive scars of wars and storms and fires that raged in the long ago. Survive street names that were bestowed when Charles Town was in its swaddling clothes. It is a far cry from old Charles Town, bounded on the south by Vanderhorst Creek (Water Street); on the west by earthworks and a moat (Meeting Street); on the north by earthworks (Cumberland Street), and on the east by the Cooper River. King, Queen and Princess Streets are reminiscent of the Royal Régime. St. Philip's, St. Michael's, St. Andrew's, Berkeley, and St. James, Goose Creek, were of the Church of England, under the Bishop of London, albeit the present St. Philip's was erected half a century after the Revolution, replacing the Proprietary building that was burned in 1835.

But this work is concerned, not with the history of Charleston, but with Landmarks of Charleston, and in the pages that follow are tales of prominent landmarks, places and buildings that are storied. Eminent Carolinian names pass in review. The greatness of the lustrous past is linked with the more convenient present. The Charles Town that was and the Charleston that is are brought before the reader. The author's effort is to present the facts accurately.

Outstanding landmarks include Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, the Old Exchange Building, the Powder Magazine, the Rhett and Trott Houses for their antiquity, the Miles Brewton House as enemy headquarters in the Revolution and the War for Southern Independence.

_An Incomparable Stroll_

Would you, guest within the gates of Charleston, see things reminiscent of _old_ Charles Town rubbing elbows with things of modern Charleston? Take this stroll, a little more than a mile, and you will be abundantly compensated.

Begin at the Mosque of Omar Temple of the Mystic Shrine, on the site of the Granville Bastion, southeastern edge of Charles Town in 1680. Proceed, southward, along East (or High) Battery, washed by the Cooper River. You behold the harbor declared by Admiral Dickins capable of accommodating the fleets of the world at one time. Seaward you see gallant Fort Sumter. To its left, Sullivan's Island, on which is Fort Moultrie of Revolutionary fame; to its right, by the Quarantine Station, Charles Town's first fort, Johnson, named for a Proprietary Governor. On the west side are some of Charleston's most desirable residences. You reach South Battery.

Here you see the monument to the brave Confederate defenders of Fort Sumter, to face that famous fortress. Continue on the promenade which has inspired extravagant phrases. In the park you see the capstan from the battleship _Maine_, blown up in Havana harbor in February, 1898; monuments to the defenders of Fort Moultrie in 1776, and to William Gilmore Simms, novelist, historian, editor. Across the park, at the foot of Church Street, you see the home of Colonel William Washington, Virginian, who achieved a lustrous record as a Revolutionary officer in South Carolina; across Church Street is the Villa Margharita, built as the home of Andrew Simonds, banker. At the foot of Meeting Street, you see a memorial fountain to the gallant Confederates of the first submarine.

Stay on the promenade and enjoy the sight of stately palmettos bordering a beautiful park in which majestic oaks are many. At the foot of King Street, you come to the Fort Sumter Hotel. This building includes the site of the landing stage used by Queen Victoria's daughter, the Princess Louise, in 1883; first member of the English royal family to visit the capital of the former English colony and province. Go north in King Street. At No. 27 is the celebrated Miles Brewton House, used by the British as headquarters in the Revolution and by the Union commanders in the War for Southern Independence. Note the picturesque old coach house.

Turn east and proceed through Ladson Street. At the northwest corner of Ladson and Meeting Streets is the home of the last Royal Lieutenant Governor, William Bull, and across Meeting Street (No. 34) the home of the last Royal Governor, Lord William Campbell, who escaped through Vanderhorst Creek (now Water Street) to H.M.S. _Tamar_, carrying with him the Great Seal of the Province. Next to the Bull House is the home of the late General James Conner, distinguished Confederate officer, and eminent for his work during Reconstruction. At Water Street you come to a corner of old Charles Town.

Continue north in Meeting Street. At No. 51 is the home of Governor Robert Francis Withers Allston, some time a convent of the Sisters of Mercy, now the home of Francis J. Pelzer. At the southwest corner of Meeting and Tradd Streets is the First (Scotch) Presbyterian Church, organized in 1731, an offspring of the old White Meeting House. On the northwest corner is the old Branford (also called Horry) home, the portico over the street being less ancient. On the east side (No. 72) is the hall of the South Carolina Society, which also houses the St. Andrew's Society, founded in 1729; in this building are tables and chairs used in the Secession convention. On the west side is the post office park, including the site of the old Charleston Club, and of the United States courthouse that collapsed in the earthquake of August 31, 1886. On the southwest corner of Meeting and Broad Streets is the United States post office, completed in 1896; this houses the United States court. On the northwest corner is the county Court House, on the site of the old State House, burned in 1788. Behind the Court House is the Daniel Blake double house, one of the first of its kind in the country.

On the southeast corner is St. Michael's Church, on the site of the original English church, St. Philip's. In its yard sleep illustrious Charlestonians, including James Louis Petigru, the epitaph on whose grave is famous. On the northeast corner is the City Hall, with its great municipal art gallery, including John Trumbull's renowned portrait of General George Washington. This was the building of the United States Bank, on the site of the early market place. Behind and beside the City Hall, Washington Park, in the northwest corner of which is the country's first fireproof building.

Proceed east in Broad Street. No. 73 is the site of Lee's Hotel, known also as the Mansion House, "kept by a dignified and distinguished looking mulatto, once the most fashionable hotel in the city and probably the best kept and most expensive," said William G. Whilden in his _Reminiscences_. Across the street (No. 62) is the Confederate Home which before the War for Southern Independence was the Carolina Hotel, a noted caravansary. At the northwest corner of Broad and Church Streets, is the Chamber of Commerce, oldest in the country, organized in 1773; this was the old South Carolina Bank building, later the home of the Charleston Library Society, which moved into modern quarters, elsewhere on this stroll. At the northeast corner is the Citizens and Southern Bank, on the site of Shepheard's Tavern, birthplace of Ancient Free Masonry in America, Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, having been chartered by the Grand Lodge of England in 1735, and birthplace also of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry, 1801. A block to the eastward, at the foot of Broad Street, is the Old Exchange, as historic a building as there is in all America.

Northward on Church Street, at the southeast corner of Church and Queen, the only Huguenot church in America! Opposite, on the southwest corner, the restored Planters' Hotel (1803), including the reproduction of Charleston's first regular theater (1735), the company of players coming direct from England. North of Queen Street, on the west side, the reputed Pirates' houses. St. Philip's graveyard is divided by Church Street, running through the foundations of the building burned in 1835. The first St. Philip's was on the site now occupied by St. Michael's and the present St. Philip's is the third. In the graveyards sleep, Edward Rutledge, Signer of the _Declaration of Independence_; William Rhett, captor of the notorious pirate, Stede Bonnet, 1718; Christopher Gadsden, Revolutionary patriot; John Caldwell Calhoun, eminent statesman.

Proceed through the western yard. You are paralleling the northern boundary of old Charles Town, a matter of yards away. You are in the Gateway Walk of the Garden Club. Midway of the yard, you are behind the first brick house in Charles Town, that of Judge Nicholas Trott; it was standing in 1719. Next to the Trott House is Charles Town's oldest building, the Powder Magazine, 1703, owned and used by the Colonial Dames of America. Into the yard of the Circular Church, cradle of Presbyterianism in Carolina. Illustrious dead are buried here. The newspaper building to the south is on the site of the South Carolina Institute Hall, in which the _Ordinance of Secession_ was signed December 20, 1860, and in which, several months before, the famous Democratic convention of 1860 was held. You come to Meeting Street, the Circular Church as the White Meeting House giving its name. Down Meeting Street, at the southwestern corner of Queen, is the St. John Hotel, on the site of the old St. Mary's Hotel, opened in 1801; General Robert E. Lee and President Theodore Roosevelt were of the notables who have been guests of this house.

At Meeting Street you are at the western edge of old Charles Town. Cross the street and pass through the yard of the Gibbes Memorial Art Gallery, a section of the old Schenking Square. Thence into the yard, of the Charleston Library Society, dating to 1748, among the oldest in the land. You come now to King Street. Down the street on the east side of the next block is the Quaker burial ground and site of the meeting houses that were burned. Cross King Street into the walk of the Unitarian Church, its building used by the British during their occupation in the Revolution for stables, and, to the north, the first Lutheran church, St. John's. You come to Archdale Street, named for pious John Archdale, Quaker, Proprietor and Governor. Go southward to Queen Street, at the corner of Legare (it used to be Friend, reminiscent of the early Quakers in the colony) is the convent of Our Lady of Mercy, a community of consecrated Sisters, now more than a hundred years old. Opposite the convent, in Legare Street, is the Crafts public school, memorial to William Crafts.

On the left, at the corner of Broad Street, is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, on the site of the Cathedral of St. Finbar and St. John, burned in 1861; here Bishop John M. England built the first St. Finbar's on the site of the Vauxhall gardens. Go east in Broad Street. No. 119 (south side) is the residence of Irving Keith Heyward with one of Charleston's finest formal gardens. Next door, to the east, is a property once occupied by Edward Rutledge.

On the north side of Broad Street, No. 118, is the site of St. Andrew's Society hall in which President James Monroe and the Marquis de Lafayette were guests of the city, Monroe in 1819 and Lafayette in 1825; in which the _Ordinance of Secession_ was adopted December 20, 1860. Next door, No. 116, is the former house of John Rutledge, "The Dictator," later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; here President William Howard Taft was the guest of Robert Goodwyn Rhett. No. 114, once the home of Colonel Thomas Pinckney, is the residence of the Bishop of Charleston, the Most Reverend Emmet Walsh. No. 112 is the Ralph Izard house; the coach house in the yard is one of the most picturesque in Charleston. This neighborhood was in Mr. Hollybush's farm, just outside of old Charles Town. No. 100 Broad Street was at one time the residence of James Louis Petigru.

You come again to the intersection of Broad and Meeting Streets and remember that here in 1876 occurred violent Reconstruction riots; that in the Revolution, years before, the statue of William Pitt was in the center and that a British shell struck off an arm. You who have followed me on this incomparable walk have seen things of Charles Town, Charlestown and Charleston. You have seen things reminiscent of early English and early French. You have seen the evolution of a British outpost in a savage land into what William Allen White has called "the most civilized town in America."

_Landmarks of Charleston_