Charleston SC Historic Walk Continues

Charleston South Carolina has many historic buildings. The first building pictured here is One Broad Street. The doorway is set into the corner of the building, which faces out onto a small crossroad that opens onto a wider street. Note the ironwork over the windows. Opened in 1853 this Italianate style building was the First State Bank of South Carolina.

One Broad Street has survived bombardment, hurricanes and a major earthquake. It was restored after the Civil War based on original plans and once more in 1978-1980 and has served as the center for the Bankers Trust since 1969.

The Peoples Office Building Charleston SC 18 Broad St

Original design was by a Swedish Architect Victor Frohling of Thompson and Frohling of New York. The cost to build the new bank was $300,000 dollars. It was Charleston’s first “skyscraper”, which has an excellent view over the city. That raised a few eyebrows… but As the steel and iron framed building was constructed, it drew many curious onlookers.

Today The Peoples Office building has luxury condos with a $500,000 price tag.

Postscript UPDATE: My friend Barb shared her husband’s Sam Williams family’s relationship to the historic One Broad Street Bank Building:

“Sam’s great grandfather George Walton Williams and his sons worked in that building for many years. So glad someone has restored it. 

George Walton Williams wrote a book titled The History of Banking in South Carolina.  It includes other writings, one of which is a highly fictional tale about Nacoochee, where we live on property that was once owned by him.”

From Wikipedia:

“George Walton Williams founded the Carolina Savings Bank of Charleston in 1875 and located it on the first floor of One Broad Street. Williams had been highly successful before the war and amassed a small fortune through his blockade running enterprises. He was wise enough to invest his profits in British Pound Sterling instead of Confederate currency and came through the war with more than one million dollars. Mr. Williams was a teetotaler  hard-working business tycoon who lived the part— he owned several successful enterprises and built and lived in the largest home in Charleston—The Calhoun Mansion located at 16 Meeting Street.

“In 1876, the second floor of One Broad Street was used as an armory for the Carolina Rifle Battalion, which was a large Charleston-based militia group associated with the Red Shirts of Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Wade Hampton III. Hampton’s win marked the end of Reconstruction (4) and the military occupation of South Carolina. In 1879, three years after Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, the second floor of One Broad Street became the first telephone exchange in South Carolina and the telephone exchange eventually took over the whole floor.

~ Wikipedia Retrieved 2/5/2020 ~ from Barb Williams

 

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen.”

Have a beautiful day whatever you do.

Peace