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Archive Record


Object Type Property File
Title 107 Bull Street (Bee's Row House)
Scope & Content Constructed ca. 1853-54; partially restored and rehabilitated 1980s. Although built in 1853 by Sara Smith, probably by a contractor from the North, the row was taken over during the Civil War by William C. Bee, who owned a blockade-running firm. During the war the row was known as Bee's Block and was used partially as warehouses and stores. A small court running behind the buildings is today humorously called "Wasbee Range." These tall row houses resemble similar structures built in Savannah, Philadelphia, and Baltimore in the mid-19th century. Terra-cotta decorations in the Italianate style with pedimented window heads and console-bracketed arch door surrounds were probably ordered from New England and resemble those on the original St. Johns (Mills House) Hotel at the corner of Queen and Meeting streets. Although each house has been altered over the years, most retain their original plasterwork and Italianate-style stone mantels. Each unit opens from the street onto an antefoyer and a foyer of an octagonal shape with niches intended for statuary. Sara Smith was the first to live on the row and seems to have built 101 Bull Street for her own residence. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)

Files contain documentation of the easement on the property; Confirmation of Understanding; annual inspection report; correspondence related to the management of the property; IRS form 8283HCF staff research notes (scant); FOHG house history (undated); other brief narrative history; newspaper articles; real estate (Colony Realty Company) listing.

The files may eventually contain correspondence related to the easement; Part I certification (National Register); annual inspection reports, requests for alterations, and correspondence related to the management of the property; easement inspection photography.

Cataloger's note: See file on 101-109 Bull Street.

No easement donation photographs (Exh. B to Deed of Conservation Easement) on file. No inspection photographs on file (see Easement Manager).
Subjects Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston
Search Terms Bull Street
Harleston Village
Easement Property
Physical Description 1 Gift Folder
1 Management Folder
1 History/Miscellaneous Folder
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Object ID # BULL.107.1