Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object Type |
Property File |
Title |
100 Meeting Street (Fireproof Building) |
Scope & Content |
Constructed 1822-27; earthquake damage and repair 1886-87; restored 1970. Robert Mills, architect; John Spidle, construction architect; John Gordon, brickmason; James Rowe and John White, stonecutters. Originally constructed as a state office building with fireproof storage for records of the Charleston District, this structure was designed by Robert Mills at the city's behest in 1822 as part of the new city square plan. Mills's plans relied primarily on the removal of combustible materials from the fabric of the building. Brick, brownstone, and stucco for the exterior; stone groin and barrel vaults; stairways lit by a central skylight; and cast-iron windows were key components of the plans. The completed building differed from Mills's original plans. John Spidle, the on-site construction supervisor, may have directed the use of plain roughcast stucco columns instead of the fluted columns, the elimination of the belt course, the substitution of quoins for horizontal channeling, and changes to the cornice and the third-story window openings as designed by Mills. Serving generally as the county property record office and housing functions such as the coroner's and tax offices, the building was leased to the South Carolina Historical Society in 1955 and officially became the Society's headquarters in 1968. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.) File contains FOHG building histories (1983, 1997); building history from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry; newspaper articles; building history from Architectural Guide to Charleston; article by Helen G. McCormack "The Fireproof Building: New Home of the South Carolina Historical Society (1943); report "Notes on the Interior of the Fireproof Building"; photocopy of measured plan first and second floors (HABS, 1934); correspondence and HCF position statement on use of elastomeric coating (2001); SCHS "Restoration Fund" booklet; color photocopy of photo of building in 1902; report "The Fireproof Building: Masonry Conservation Study" by George T. Fore and Associates (1990). |
Subjects |
Fireproof Building (Charleston, S.C.) Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston |
Search Terms |
Meeting Street National Register of Historic Places |
Physical Description |
1 File Folder |
Related Records |
Show Related Records... |
Object ID # |
MEETING.100.1 |