Name/Title
167 Ashley Avenue (U.S. Arsenal/Porter Military Complex)Entry/Object ID
ASHLEY.167.001Scope and Content
Established by 1825; various 19th century construction dates; altered 1960s; restored 1980s-90s. The United States government established an arsenal on this uptown site in 1825 on the location of a paupers' cemetery. The arsenal continued in operation until the beginning of the Civil War, when it was taken over by the Confederacy. The only remnant of the first complex was exclusively renovated in 1884 as a chapel for Porter Military Academy, a boys' school formed in 1867 by an Episcopal clergyman, the noted Confederate chaplain Dr. Toomer Porter. Dr. Porter had obtained the arsenal site from the federal government with the assistance of Gen. William T. Sherman. A leading African-American builder helped Dr. Porter convert the former brick arsenal shed by adding a peaked Gothic roof and new windows. An octagonal, Gothic Revival library donated by a New York Episcopal minister in 1887 and designed by J.B. Snooks also survives from the formative period of the school; today it houses the library and archive of the Medical Society of SC. Colcock Hall, a 2-story brick artillery building, remains from the 1862-64 use of the site by the Confederacy. These buildings have been restored in recent years by their current owner, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains National Register of Historic Places registration form; history of PMA from Preservation Progress (Nov. 1963); history of Colcock Hall; building history from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry: report "Archaeological Reconnaisance Survey of the Proposed Expansion to the Basic Science Building, College of Dental Medicine" (MUSC) regarding possible gravesites on property; SHPO comments on the proposed renovation of Colcock Hall, including MUSC's project description (2004); photocopies of portions of two 1838 plats with drawings of PMA buildings.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
ASHLEY.167.Source or Donor
167 Ashley Avenue (U.S. Arsenal/Old Porter Military Complex)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Ashley Avenue, Radcliffeborough and Cannonborough, National Register of Historic Places, Porter Military Academy (Charleston, S.C.)--Buildings, Military academies--South Carolina--Charleston, Historic buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 File FolderArchive Notes
Finding Aids: Index to Property Files.
Level of Description: FolderLocation
Location
Shelf
Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentDate
February 7, 2023Location
Container
PF Box 6Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2004.020.125, 2006.007.29, 2009.013.28, 2015.012.1, 2018.005.36a-b, ASHLEY.167.002, ASHLEY.167.003, ASHLEY.167.004a-r, ASHLEY.167.005a-d, ASHLEY.167.006a-j, ASHLEY.167.007, ASHLEY.167.008, ASHLEY.167.009a-d, ASHLEY.167.010, ASHLEY.175.001, ASHLEY.181.001, ASHLEY.181.002a-g, ASHLEY.181.003a-f, ASHLEY.181.004, ASHLEY.181.005
Related Units of Description: See also "Porter Military Academy" document box, Preservation Topics shelves.
See also BEE.GEN.001 (architectural report on brick wall).Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), p. 621.General Notes
Note
Notes: Image in this record from Colcock Hall online exhibit, Waring Historical Library, http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/colcockhall/.
Section of 1951 Sanborn Map on Media link.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
August 10, 2005Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023