People who join me on walking tours of scenic Charleston, SC, are typically very interested in architecture and buildings methods from the city’s past. I point out that many of the historic buildings date to the 18th or early 19th century, when wooden framing was done in the post-and-beam style, building progressively vertically. This type of construction required little use of nails, as timbers were fitted with mortise and tenon joints that were pegged together. This is a very sturdy type of construction, and many of the early houses are better built that those that came later. After 1830, the popular style was “balloon framing”, in which the entire frame was assembled before the inner joints were added.
