Celebrating Historic Preservation Month - Old Homes and Architecture in the BDC by Cassandra Knoppel

May is National Historic Preservation Month, a time to highlight historically and architecturally significant buildings and to encourage citizens to appreciate the structures around them. Historic preservation is the stewardship of sites related to our history and culture: the spaces and places that are interconnected with the story of us as a people, where we have come from and where we want to be. These sites don't just include old buildings like houses, businesses, and churches, but also other types of historic places like cemeteries, parks, battlefields, and even whole neighborhoods.

As a graduate of the College of Charleston's Historic Preservation undergraduate program, I took the opportunity to write on this subject with delight. While my interest lies in the preservation of more material items like documents and objects, I have a deep appreciation for old buildings and the stories they tell. I have always enjoyed walking the streets of any place I've visited, admiring the facades of local buildings and trying to concoct a story of the house or neighborhood from the architectural features (This is a habit that has surprisingly never bored my fiancé, so I know he's a keeper!).

Within the BDC, we have quite a few materials that can be used to tell the story of some significant places in Beaufort's history. Not only do we have old newspapers, city directories, and access to Sanborn Maps that we highlight in our "Getting Started on Property Research" blog post, we also have more unique collections that help to document Beaufort County's built history.

John Staelin and Elizabeth Locke Collection, circa 1976, circa 2021 and the Penelope Holme Parker Research Collection, circa 2018-2021.

One of my favorite parts of my undergrad historic preservation courses was writing architectural histories for a variety of Charleston (and one Beaufort) structures. Writing these histories requires a significant amount of research, including digging through old newspapers for hours, visiting the deeds office again and again, clicking through pages of Ancestry results late into the night, and loitering in the local archives to request box after box of correspondence and business records (You can tell I have personal experience). It's tedious yet exciting work; you never know what story you will uncover about an old building!

    

In the mid-2010s, John Staelin and Elizabeth Locke hired Penelope Holme Parker to research and write a report on the history of their new (old) home, "The Castle." Parker operated Holme Histories, a business which specialized in house histories and genealogies, and had written prior reports on the Elizabeth Barnwell Gough House and the William Wigg Barnwell House. Parker worked on "The Castle" report from approximately 2018 to 2021, but the report was left unfinished due to the sale of “The Castle” by Staelin and Locke.   

In 2024, Parker donated some of the research materials she accumulated during the writing of her report to the BDC, along with a draft copy of the report itself. The materials have been split into three collections, of which two have been processed and made available to researchers so far. The John Staelin and Elizabeth Locke Collection, circa 1976, circa 2021 contains the unfinished "The Castle" report, as well as ten color photographs and three color slides. The photographs, taken by Larry Rodgers, depict the interior and exterior of "The Castle." The source of the slides is unknown, but two were dated 1976. They also depict the exterior of "The Castle" as well as one of former owner, Ruby Danner, with her brother, Christy Cummings. 

The documents Parker compiled from various sources during the research process for the unfinished report on "The Castle" make up the Penelope Holme Parker Research Collection, circa 2018-2021. These materials mostly include photocopies of primary source documents like census records found on Ancestry.com, information from prior historical reports, clippings, and family tree information on the Johnson Family. Parker also conducted oral history interviews which she transcribed for inclusion in her research files.

According to Parker's report, "The Castle" was built for Dr. Joseph Johnson in 1859 by J.S. Cooper. It remained in the family until the 1980s. 

"The Castle" is most known in Beaufort for another famous "occupant," a ghost of a French dwarf jester named Gauche. Legend has it that Gauche came to Beaufort with Jean Ribaut but died before he could make the return trip home. Since then, he has haunted the halls of "The Castle," or at least ~something~ has, according to many locals and those who have spent time in "The Castle." While writing her report, Parker conducted oral histories of Beaufortonians who spent time in the dwelling over the years and kept transcripts of them in the research binders she donated to the BDC. In many of these oral histories, interviewees regaled her with stories of alleged ghostly encounters. Some recall being brushed by a specter, doors locking and unlocking themselves, or small, child-like handprints appearing on mirrors. While the truth of these stories and the existence of a ghost in "The Castle" cannot be concretely proven, the tales add to the colorful history of the charming old home.

Charles N. Bayless Photograph Collection, 1977 – 1979

Photographs are critical resources when looking into the history of a property. They are a time-capsule, showing what color a house was painted 40 years ago, or what a business on a now-empty street corner looked like before it was torn down. Photographer Charles N. Bayless felt similarly about the use of photographs to partially preserve local architecture.

    

The Charles. N. Bayless Photograph Collection is a collection of 466 black-and-white photographs of historic houses and structures in Beaufort. According to our finding aid written by prior BDC Staffer Amanda Forbes, "Bayless photographed exteriors and interiors of historic buildings in Georgetown, Charleston, and Beaufort Counties as part of Historic American Buildings Survey funded in part by two National Endowment for the Arts grants." His photos of Beaufort were taken between 1977 and 1979 and are mostly of houses within the Beaufort Historic District. However, there are 14 images of Auldbrass in Yemassee.

For those of you who don't know, Auldbrass was designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright for Charles Leigh Stevens, a wealthy business consultant, who purchased the Yemassee land known as "Old Brass" in 1938. It was Wright's only plantation design, and one of only two of his designs built in South Carolina. Construction of Auldbrass began in 1940, but not all of Wright's original plans were built on the property initially. The main residence and the caretaker's house were built, along with farm buildings like stables and kennels. However, the bath house, pool, gate, and some of the smaller cottages were not constructed by Stevens. In 1986, movie producer Joel Silver purchased Aulbrass and set about completing Wright's plans for the plantation. Bayless' photographs of Auldbrass show what the buildings and property looked like a decade before this final phase of construction.

If you are curious about Charles Bayless and his work, Bayless' Charleston images are available online through the Historic American Buildings Survey on the Library of Congress website and the Lowcountry Digital Library. You can also take a look at other HABS photographs of Beaufort County, taken by other photographers, on the LOC website.

Civil War Era Prints

Like photographs, historic prints can also show what once was. The BDC has a large collection of
Beaufort County-related prints, mostly from Civil War-era periodicals. The prints show how Beaufort was growing during the War and under Union occupation, with military buildings popping up all over the Sea Islands. 

 

Many have heard of General William T. Sherman's destruction, but what about Brig. General Thomas West Sherman's construction? 

After their success in the naval bombardment of Fort Walker during the Battle of Port Royal Sound on November 7th, 1861, Union troops landed on Hilton Head Island before securing Beaufort and its surrounding Sea Islands. Soon after, Brig. Gen. Sherman ordered his men to build better fortifications along the Hilton Head beach in case the Confederates attempted to regain the territory. 

There are quite a few prints in the BDC which show the construction on Hilton Head Island during this time. Print #46 and #6, both entitled "Expedition to Port Royal.--government buildings erected on Hilton Head, S. C., by the Federal Forces under General Sherman, 1861-2.," depict two different views of building on Hilton Head Island after Brig. Gen. Sherman's troops arrived. Based on the hand-colored engravings and their captions, we know that the fortifications along with a wharf, dwellings, and storehouses were being built by Federal troops while Confederate-built buildings were being adapted into hospitals, housing, post offices, and more. Homes for newly freed enslaved people were also built by the government on the Island, as seen in Print #51A, "Government buildings for "contrabands," erected at Hilton Head, S. C., in 1862." 

BDC Print #65 is entitled "The Great Naval Expedition --View of the town of Beaufort, S. C., from the deck of the U. S. Gunboat Seneca, November 14th" and was published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on December 7, 1861. The hand-colored engravings depict the scene of the Federal occupation of Hilton Head just a week after the successful naval bombardment. In its aftermath, the Union Army took up residency in Fort Walker and other nearby structures, some which that had been damaged by gun and cannon fire as scene in two of the print's vignettes. The uppermost and bottommost vignettes detail the view of the shorelines of Beaufort and Hilton Head, respectively. Houses and docks can be seen in the top image of Beaufort, while a field of tents along the beach surrounding Fort Walker can be seen on Hilton Head. The view is nearly unrecognizable today!

Paul Hamilton to Catharine A. Hamilton Conveyance, 1869

Deed research can be a bear. If you've ever done any, you can commiserate. By the end of your day in the Deeds Office, you'll undoubtedly find yourself shivering in front of a microfilm machine, squinting at the screen while trying to make out the not-so-neat 19th century cursive writing on a series of deeds that might have the one you need to end your chain-of-title search that's been going-on all afternoon. And then, to your nerdy delight yet slight dismay, you'll find that So-and-So was NOT the original owner and thus will need to do some more digging (You can tell this is personal, again)! 

While the BDC does not have a collection of Deeds that would allow us to become familiar with this process, we have just a few in our collection that could be of interest to researchers, including the Paul Hamilton to Catherine A. Hamilton Conveyance, 1869.

    

This 1869 Deed of Conveyance of Property from Col. Paul Hamilton to his wife, Catherine Amarinthia Hamilton is for a lot on Block 3, “Sams Point” in the Town of Beaufort. Many of us know Sam's Point to be on Lady's Island, so I initially believed this to be a plot of land over there. However, closer reading of the land's description sounded very similar to lots in town. To determine where exactly the parcel was located, I first found a reference in Lena Lengnick's Beaufort Memoirs that the Old Point neighborhood Downtown was colloquially referred to as Sam's Point due to the amount of land and houses owned by the Sam's family in that area. I also examined Civil War-era maps and compared them to current maps and found that the description in the deed matches 100 Laurens Street, also known as "The Oaks." 

Some of you may be familiar with the history of "The Oaks." In about 1855, Col. Paul Hamilton and his wife, Catherine Amarinthia Campbell, built "The Oaks" for use as a summer home which later became Union Hospital #1 during the Civil War. The deed itself seems to be tied to a longstanding Beaufort legend which dictates that the house was put up for auction in about 1866. Col. Hamilton is said to have sought to secure the necessary funds to buy back his home before the sale began, but sympathetic neighbors and new residents came to the family’s aid and purchased "The Oaks" in Col. Hamilton’s name. Afterwards, the Hamiltons lived in Beaufort with some of their children, including their daughter, Mary, who became known locally as a Reconstruction Era teacher who used rooms in the house as classrooms. Other properties have these "good Samaritan" stories tied to the recovery of their houses after the War – Fripp's Tidalholm being a good example with an anonymous Frenchman purchasing the home at auction to give back to the family. But do we have any additional information that can corroborate this story of the tax sale and repurchase of "The Oaks?" 

This 1869 conveyance does describe the earlier sales of the property, which we believe to be "The Oaks," at public auctions in 1863 and 1866, but without seemingly confirming the legendary Good-Samaritan purchase. If you want to try gleaning more information from the deed, you can come read it in the BDC. But, to me, the mystery ~still remains~.

To reiterate: We do not have a deed collection in the BDC. This item was gifted to the Library in 1957 and is one of our only historic deeds. For that type of research, you'll need to actually visit the County's Register of Deeds.​

Plan for "Repairs and Restoration of the Janie Hamilton School: Daufuskie Island, South Carolina: 1993: for Beaufort County School District"

Building and renovation plans also help to tell a story about a building. The BDC has a few plans in our collection, mostly of more recent renovations to historic structures in the area. Take for instance the plan for repairs to Daufuskie Island's Janie Hamilton School, designed in 1993 by architect William Blount Shepard III. 

This one-room school was built by the WPA in 1937 on a raised, brick-pier foundation, with a metal gable roof, 9-over-9 paned windows, cypress clapboard siding, and an off-center pedimented entry. As Billie Burn wrote in An Island Named Daufuskie, the land for the school was sold to the County Board of Education for $1.00 by Mrs. Jane Hamilton for the purpose of building a school for the children of the Cooper River area of Daufuskie Island. After the school closed in the 1950s, Mrs. Hamilton is said to have lived in the building until her death in about 1962. The building was also used for church and community meetings, as well as being the site of a short-lived Beaufort County Library afterschool program in 1971 where children were shown movies and given free books and snacks twice a week. 

By 1993, however, the building had fallen into disuse, with years of neglect leading to degradation made worse by notable water damage. According to the description for the Plan in the SCLends catalog, the Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation raised money to restore the school for use as a museum by the Foundation. Per the written plans, the school building's metal roof was to be replaced, the original windows to be repaired, cypress siding to be stained, among much other work to be done. The general idea was to keep as much of the original, historic fabric intact and to replace what needed to be replaced "in-kind" or with similar, compatible materials. The restoration appears to have been successful, as the building is now used by DIHF as their Gullah Learning Center, which Grace and I had the absolute pleasure of touring last summer on an archival consultation visit.

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I hope that you have learned something new about a few of the places that make Beaufort County so unique and wonderful, and the materials within the BDC that help tell their stories. I encourage everyone to get outside this month and take a walk around a historic district or site nearby to bask in our cultural heritage!

References:

Burn, B. (1991). An island named Daufuskie. Published in association with Billie Burn Books by the Reprint Co.

De Long, D. G., & Wright, F. L. (Eds.). (2003). Auldbrass: Frank Lloyd Wright’s southern plantation. Rizzoli.

Historic Beaufort Foundation. (1999). A guide to historic Beaufort: A guide to the historic houses, churches and other points of interests of Beaufort, South Carolina (Revised ninth edition.). Historic Beaufort Foundation.

Lengnick, L. W. (1942). Beaufort memoirs (Revised). Published by author.

Rowland, L. S., Moore, A., & Rogers, G. C. (1996). The history of Beaufort County, South Carolina. University of South Carolina Press.

Staelin, J., Locke, E., & Parker, P. H. (2021?). [Unpublished report on “The Castle”]. In the John Staelin and Elizabeth Locke Collection, Beaufort District Collection, Beaufort County Library, SC.

Starr, R. (1981). Daufuskie Island Historic District. National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/beaufort/S10817707029/S10817707029.pdf 

Wise, S. R., Rowland, L. S., & Spieler, G. (2015). Rebellion, reconstruction, and redemption, 1861-1893. The University of South Carolina Press.

National Historic Preservation Month

May is National Historic Preservation Month. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a  privately funded nonprofit organization working to save America’s historic places. The National Trust wants everyone to celebrate historic preservation by learning knowing more about where you live. 

We are blessed to live in an area so rich in history. From Altamaha, to Charlesfort, to Santa Elena, to Penn Center, to Mitchelville, to Fort Fremont, to the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot, to the rise of planned development, etc., Beaufort County residents and visitors are fortunate to have a long and distinguished history surrounding us all each and every day! (From the number of tourists I've seen in the area, more and more folks are coming for a taste of lowcountry life, history, and culture.)

Sometimes, though, historic preservation starts literally at your doorstep. Do you know when your house was built? Or who established your neighborhood? One of the best ways to get involved in preservation is to delve into the history of your community.

Here are a few ideas to get you started exploring the history around you:

• Visit the Beaufort District Collection to see if we already have a file on your particular property or to use our printed materials and maps to start compiling the history of your home. We even put up a blog post back in March 2015 about how to proceed. In most cases, unless you live in a structure already on the National Register of Historic Properties, you will also need to contact other agencies.
• Visit the appropriate County offices to research historic tax and property records for your house. You might uncover some hidden mysteries, like clues to who the first owners were, subsequent previous occupants, whether changes were made to the original structure, historic maps of the surrounding neighborhood, and even old photos.
• Get in contact with the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. They’ll be able to tell you about local preservation laws that protect the outside of your house, offer assistance in restoring or preserving your home, and provide more information about current preservation projects in your state.
• Visit the National Register of Historic Places, maintained by the National Park Service, to find out about other historic houses, neighborhoods, destinations, and more in your area.

Or, if you’re looking to make a change, buying a historic home is a great way to become a part of your city’s story. (It’s also fun to just browse through the National Trust’s list of historic properties for sale and do a little daydreaming, preservation-style.)

It can be easy to find a personal connection to preservation when you start just by looking around you.

SCAD at Baynard Mausoleum

Image courtesy of Heritage Library

A news notice from Linda Piekut, Executive Director of the Heritage Library Foundation: 

 

The Heritage Library History & Genealogy Center has signed a collaborative with the Savannah College of Art and Design for a structural study of the Baynard Mausoleum in the Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery.  The SCAD historic preservation program emphasizes applied learning and research with preservation partners and hands-on revitalization initiatives.  Dr. Thomas Taylor, Professor of Historic Preservation is leading the classes, HIPR 446 Cemetery Preservation and HIPR 747 Conservation in Cemeteries in the spring term that began in March.  The students will be on-site at the mausoleum on Friday and Saturday May 17 and 18 performing their hands-on analysis of the structure.  

The Baynard Mausoleum was built in 1846 for William Edings Baynard who died at age 49.  Shortly after, in 1854, William’s wife Catherine Adelaide was laid to rest in the mausoleum. Baynard owned the Braddock’s Point Plantation that is now located in Sea Pines Resort.  The mausoleum is the oldest extant structure on the island.

The Heritage Library is seeking funds to help restore the mausoleum and cemetery. Please call 686-6560 for more information.

Joe Frazier’s Philly Gym is Listed Among NTHP's Most Endangered

Beaufort Native Son, Joe Frazier moved to Philadelphia, PA during his teenage years.  There he trained to be an Olympic and world heavy-weight boxing champion.  Now his Philadelphia gym is in danger of demolition.  Read more about Joe Frazier’s Gym on the National Trust for Heritage Preservation site.

May is National Historic Preservation Month

Before I forget to mention that May is National Historic Preservation Month:

The SC Department of Archives and History’s 2012 Historic Preservation Month poster “Finding South Carolina’s Hidden Gems” is available online at http://shpo.sc.gov/events/Pages/Presmonth.aspx.  It's not a Beaufort District related house, but it is a fine house nevertheless.  What's particularly helpful is the  guide about how to start researching an historic property which you'll find on page 2!

The National Trust for Historic Preservation suggests that it is always good to "Know the History Around You." From Altamaha, to Charlesfort, to Santa Elena, to Penn Center, to Mitchelville, to Fort Fremont, to the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot, to Sea Pines development, etc., Beaufort County residents and visitors are blessed to have a long and distinguished history surrounding us all each and every day!

Preservation is knowing the history of your old house, your neighborhood, or the places nearby.
Do you know when your house was built? Or who established your neighborhood? One of the best ways to get involved in preservation is to delve into the history of your community.
Here are a few ideas to get you started exploring the history around you:

• Visit your local library to research historic tax and property records for your house. You might uncover some hidden mysteries, like clues to who the first owners were, subsequent previous occupants, whether changes were made to the original structure, historic maps of the surrounding neighborhood, and even old photos.
• Get in contact with your State Historic Preservation Office. They’ll be able to tell you about local preservation laws that protect the outside of your house, offer assistance in restoring or preserving your home, and provide more information about current preservation projects in your state.
• Visit the National Register of Historic Places, maintained by the National Park Service, to find out about other historic houses, neighborhoods, destinations, and more in your area.

Or, if you’re looking to make a change, buying a historic home is a great way to become a part of your city’s story. (It’s also fun to just browse through our list of historic properties for sale and do a little daydreaming, preservation-style.)
It can be easy to find a personal connection to preservation when you start just by looking around you.




Reminder:  All units of the BCL will be closed Mon., May 28th to observe Memorial Day. 

HBF Tours October 22 - 24

Historic Beaufort Foundation Fall Festival of Houses and Gardens is being held October 22, 23, and 24th.

Extra added attractions scheduled for the Fall Festival of Houses & Gardens, include:

 Book signing in the Verdier House drawing room by John Warley and Pat Conroy – October 23, 4 – 7 p.m. Warley’s new book, Bethesda’s Child, features a foreword by Conroy, Warley’s Citadel classmate. Conroy will be signing his own books also. A portion of each book sold benefits HBF. 801 Bay Street.

 The Hallelujah Singers in Concert at First Presbyterian Church, 1201 North Street – October 23, $25 per ticket.

Call 379-3331 for reservations or go online to purchase tickets: www.historicbeaufort.org. A portion of the proceeds benefits HBF.

Sorry, folks, but I can't think of a direct and entertaining "archival" connection between the houses on the tour and "Archives Month" other than to say the Beaufort District Collection has vertical files on both the Verdier House and family as well as a Beaufort County Historical Society Paper about First Presbyterian Church and a vertical file about it under the heading "Churches--First Presbyterian Church."

Thompson on Historic Preservation

In case you haven't seen it yet:

Beaufort Lifestyle magazine interviewed Evan Thompson on his perceptions regarding the state of historic preservation in Beaufort over the last decade for its August/September 2010 issue. Thompson was executive director of Historic Beaufort Foundation from 2005 until his resignation in May 2010. He shares his discomfort with where the historic preservation movement in Beaufort County may be heading.

Thompson is now Executive Director of the Preservation Society of Charleston.

Historic Beaufort Foundation is a member of the Historical Resources Consortium of Beaufort County, a loose affiliation of sister cultural heritage agencies (archives, museums, libraries, historical societies, cultural groups, historical preservation societies) which share their research resources with the public under reasonable terms of access.

Pick up a free copy of the Beaufort Lifestyle in newstands across the islands (or from our Beaufort Branch Library lobby - while supplies last) or view it online at http://www.beaufortlifestyle.com/Beaufort_Lifestyle/INDEX.html. Click on the bubble. The interview with Thompson is on pages 24 - 26.

Once the BDC Research Room re-opens come visit us to review the contents of the file on the Rhett Office building. Relocating an historic collection is hard work but it continues apace.