Month: August 2019

Each day on my walking tour of historic #Charleston, I take tourists past scenic Vanderhorst Row on East Bay Street. The impressive brick structure was built along Charleston’s waterfront circa 1800, when bustling shipping wharves stood nearby this residential edifice. There were actually two row buildings erected side by side, but the building to the north was destroyed in the earthquake of 1886, and now there is nothing there but a bland parking lot. Vanderhorst Row itself does exemplify the classic architecture that makes Charleston so unique, and although no more than a rectangular brick building, it is the exquisite detail that makes the structure so pleasing to the eye. The bricks are “rouged” to a deep reddish hue by iron oxides that were added to clays in the kilning process. Those bricks are laid in an attractive pattern called Flemish Bond, with vertical “soldiers” over doors and windows. Stone quoins, voussoirs, splayed lintels and lunette arches added considerably to the classic look of Vanderhorst Row, details that increased building cost, but made it so memorable. Unfortunately, modern architecture in Charleston is rarely distinguishing, as simple details such as those mentioned above are missing from what are typically just brick boxes. We can see so easily in Vanderhorst Row how simple it would be to make all buildings scenic and attractive. <img.src=”Charleston Architecture” alt=”Vanderhorst Row”

On my walking tours of historic #Charleston, I typically take the group of visitors down Stoll’s Alley in the famous South of Broad district. One of the gates there was done by the Charleston’s most heralded 20th century ironsmith, Philip Simmons. I got to know Mr. Simmons in his later years, when he was still pounding hammer on anvil into his eighties. He got his start as a 13-year old apprentice in a blacksmith shop back in 1925, learning to forge iron axles and wheels for wagons and carts. He quickly found a fascination with the decorative ironwork found in old structures around the city that had been done in previous centuries by ironworkers such as Jacob Roh, Johann Iusti and Christopher Werner. Mr. Simmons decided at age 20 to start his own decorative ironwork enterprise and got his first commissioned job to do a gate on Stoll’s Alley in 1932. The gate pictured below is what he called his “billboard gate”, as he would ask potential customers to look at it and decide if they wanted to hire him. Decades of iron details and hundreds of gates later, the billboard gate was a testimonial to the talent and skill of Philip Simmons from the very first stroke he made on decorative iron. <img.src=”Charleston Gates” alt=”Philip Simmons Billboard Gate”

The French Huguenot church in #Charleston is a very distinctive site that we pass each day on my walking tours. The structure, completed in 1845, is very noticeable for its rare Gothic Revival architecture, highlighted by the towering buttresses with their cast-iron finials spiraling heavenward. The church was designed by Charleston architect Edward Brickell White, whose structures are still some of the most noteworthy in the city, including the grand Market Hall on Meeting Street and the equally-impressive High School of Charleston building on Society Street, just to name a few. Although so much of the building’s character is easy to see at first glance, it took more than a century to observe one of its most impressive details. Old black and white photos showed the brick structure with its stucco veneer, but of course, any color was pure conjecture. Throughout the 20th century, the old church featured mostly the bland sand-colored stucco base. In recent years, the stucco was white-washed, and the church had a white exterior throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries. But in 2014, repairs were made on the back wall from damage that occurred in the earthquake and had never been fixed, and contractors found old stucco wedged between bricks that obviously dated to the 1840’s construction. With new microscopic technology, the old sand particles were closely examined, and coral-colored powdered pigments were found mixed in. From this it was determined by architectural historians that the original exterior color of the church was coral, and the facade was restored.  <img.src=”Charleston Architecture” alt=”French Huguenot Church”

One of the most memorable legends here in historic #Charleston is the story of the famous Sword Gate at 32 Legare Street that we often pass on my walking tour. This wonderful example of hand-forged wrought iron was created by the German-born ironsmith Christopher Werner, who, in my opinion, was the most talented of the many great Charleston ironsmiths. According to the legend, Werner’s command of the English language was not that good, and he misunderstood when city officials commissioned him to create a “pair of gates” for the planned city Guard House at Broad and Meeting streets. Werner made two sets of double-sided gates, when the city’s intention was for the pair to be the two sides of the single gate, according to the legend, and when Werner presented his gates to the city officials, they only wanted one pair and the other was sold to George Hopley, who installed them at his house on Legare Street. I have waded through the hand-written city council minutes, and I discovered that on August 13, 1838, Werner appeared before the council with his plan, stating exactly what he would do and exactly what it would cost – $750, which was a lot of money then. So the “extra” legend is pure fiction, and obviously Hopley commissioned Werner to create a similar gate for his house as a separate undertaking.  <img.src=”Charleston Legends” alt=”Sword Gate”

 

This image of Washington Square shows a much different look than the historic park today, and offers some clues as to the date of the picture. This perspective is looking west from the park with the 1820’s Fireproof Building looming to the right. The tall poles pictured indicate it was in the era of electricity, but looking at the one to the left standing over Meeting Street, there are no lines for trolleys, which were electrified in #Charleston in 1897. Also, the structure pictured across Meeting Street to the left of the Fireproof Buildings is one of the 18th century buildings that were remodeled into the Timrod Hotel in 1902. The statue of William Pitt behind the seated women was moved to the park in 1881, and the barely-discernible saplings in the picture are live oaks planted in 1882. Because there is no visible damage to any of the buildings, added to the fact that live oaks grow fairly quickly, I would place this image at roughly 1883 based on visual evidence. <img.src=”Charleston Parks” alt=”Washington Square”

One of the most interesting houses in old, historic #Charleston is the Tobias Bowles house at 143 Tradd Street. Visitors touring the city are often impressed by the grand structure that stands recessed from the street, as well as its very curious wrought iron gates. The gates are adorned with a series of crossed arrows, which give them a very distinctive look. Bowles had the house built in the 1790’s at a time when this location overlooked the marshes of the Ashley River. Like so many of Charleston’s famous historic houses, it was remodeled in the 1850’s by Solomon Legare, Jr. There has been some question as to the when the gates were added and who did them, but I believe I have the correct answer. Nineteenth century Charleston ironsmith Christopher Werner was the most prolific creator of wrought iron gates from the 1830’s through the 1850’s, and his gate at the Garden Walk off King Street features the exact same arrowhead shape. Also, the enterprising Werner had become involved in building restoration and remodeling by the 1850’s and is very likely the contractor chosen by Legare to redo the house and highlight the structure with a fashionable gate.