Name/Title
340 Meeting Street (Weyman's Folly a/k/a Weyman's Mansion)Entry/Object ID
MEETING.340.1Scope and Content
Built ca. 1822 by Joseph T. Weyman, the house occupied part of a tract originally granted to Richard Cole, carpenter on the ship Carolina. Weyman bought the land in 1819 from the Wragg family, who had held it since 1715, when Samuel Wragg acquired a part of the original tract and gave the name of Wraggboro to that section. Weyman underestimated the cost of the building and lived in the house only a short time, naming it Weyman's Folly. Tradition holds that the architect William Jay built the William Mason Smith House at 26 Meeting and that he may have designed the Weyman House because the two are alike in exterior plan and interior details. Robert T. Withers later acquired the property; it was sold at his death to Benjamin Faneul Hunt. Included for the first time in city limits in 1849. In 1919, it was purchased by the Salvation Army, which operated it as the Argonne Hotel for service men during WWI. It was the home of the Soldiers and Sailors Club. After the war, it was operated as the Twildo Inn, the Osceola Hotel, and later as the Charlotte Hotel. In August, 1938, it was sold by the Salvation Army to Dennis Chrisofal, who sold it to the Machris Corporation. The federal government acquired it for use as part of the new post office site but its destruction was delayed by WWII. For a part of WWII it was used as headquarters for the Navy's shore patrol. Demolished in 1949. The house was considered a landmark for many years. Made of brick, covered with cement, with slate roof. the Main portion was 4 stories high, with a 2-story wing extending from the back along Charlotte Street. Four large Tuscan columns run along the south side, extending 2 stories high to support a piazza roof. Back of the columns was a balcony along the 3rd floor, with rail made of wood with wrought iron in the design of side-by-side twin harps at the center. (Source: DYKYC, 11/8/48.)
File contains newspaper articles, 1938 and 1948 DYKYC and 1949 article describing its demolition; photocopy of scans from the Georgia Historical Society; graduate student report (Sarah Kollar, 2007) on the history of the building/property and property, which includes historical and chain-of-title research, maps, photos, and other supporting documentation.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
MEETING.340.Source or Donor
340 Meeting Street (Weyman's Folly a/k/a Weyman's Mansion)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Meeting Street, Demolished buildings, lost buildings, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Lost architecture--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 File FolderArchive Notes
Associated Material: Georgia Historical Society's James McDonough folder.
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 74Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2005.003.0026, 2014.002.005, 2014.002.006, 2015.018.1, 2019.019.3, MEETING.332-334.1, MEETING.332-334.2a-b, MEETING.340.002, MEETING.340.003, MEETING.340.004a-bRelated Publications
Notes
Lowcountry Digital Library (newspaper clippings, etc., about war-time housing)General Notes
Note
Notes: The William Mason Smith House at 26 Meeting is considered its "sister."Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
April 19, 2005Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023