Name/Title
Bedon's Alley (General)Entry/Object ID
BEDONS.GEN.001Scope and Content
Developed 1704-88. By the 1730s this small street, then called Middle Lane, contained a mix of mercantile stores and ship chandleries, but its development was stymied by heavy damage in the fires of 1740 and 1778. After the latter fire wealthy contractor Humphrey Sommers built the 3-story stucco building at 2 Bedon's Alley as a tenement with shops on the first floor and a residence above. Merchant James Cunnington's narrow structure of a decade earlier at 5 Bedon's Alley had similar usage with a countinghouse on the first floor and elegant residence above. The 3-story south wing was added in 1794. Tradition holds that America's oldest musical organization, the St. Cecilia Society, was founded in this building. Most of the small brick houses on the east side of the street were built as outbuildings for the large establishments in Rainbow Row. 8 and 10 Bedon's Alley, for example, provided service functions for Scottish merchant Adam Tunno's large office and residence at 89 East Bay Street. These structures were rescued in the 1920s and 1930s by Susan Pringle Frost and renovated as modern dwellings with detailing and landscape treatments in the Colonial Revival style. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
From Charleston's Streets website, origin of name: Bedon's Alley was in existence by 1704, when it appeared, unnamed, on the Crisp Map. The "Ichnography" of 1739 identifies it as Middle Lane. Deeds as early as 1733, however, refer to it as Beadon's or Bedon's Street or Alley. It was named for George Beadon (Bedon), a merchant who owned land in the little street. The fires of 1740 and 1778 swept through the alley, presumably destroying all structures.
File contains newspaper article (DYKYC) dated 12/13/1948; FOHG house history for 16 Bedon's Alley (2001).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
BEDONS.GEN.Source or Donor
Bedon's Alley (General)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Bedon's Alley, Streets--South Carolina--Charleston, Alleys--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 7Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2004.021.112, 2006.005.007, 2017.007.3, BEDONS.GEN.002, BEDONS.GEN.003Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 54Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
September 6, 2005Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023