56 Bull Street (Denmark Vesey House)

Archive

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Historic Charleston Foundation

56 Bull Street

56 Bull Street

Name/Title

56 Bull Street (Denmark Vesey House)

Entry/Object ID

BULL.056.001

Scope and Content

Constructed ca. 1821-22. Tradition holds that this is the residence of Denmark Vesey, leader of an aborted slave insurrection in 1822. The single story frame building with vernacular characteristics follows the scheme of "freedmen's cottages" built in postbellum Charleston but may contain an earlier structure. Vesey, a native of the West Indies brought to Charleston as a slave, purchased his freedom in 1800 with money from a lottery prize. Vesey went on to become a carpenter, which left him in good financial standing. Accused of corresponding with Santo Domingo revolutionaries and planning to burn Charleston, Vesey and 34 African Americans were hanged. Continuing documentation of this site may affirm the relationship of the front portion of the present building to Denmark Vesey. (Buildings of Charleston.) File contains house history from The Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry; chain-of-title (1894-1976); National Register of Historic Places nomination form; memo from researcher regarding verification of house as that of Denmark Vesey (1980); newspaper articles (including 1976 DYKYC); correspondence regarding the rehabilitation/restoration of the house (1982) (see related Rehabilitation Plan, BULL.056.003); William and Mary Quarterly article "Denmark Vesey and His Co-Conspirators" by Michael P. Johnson.

Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation Property Records

Acquisition

Accession

BULL.056.

Source or Donor

56 Bull Street (Denmark Vesey House)

Acquisition Method

Collected by Staff

Lexicon

Search Terms

Bull Street, Harleston Village, Freedman's cottage, National Register of Historic Places, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Vesey, Denmark, ca. 1767-1822

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Property File

Archive Details

Archive Size/Extent

1 File Folder

Archive Notes

Finding Aids: Index to Property Files. Level of Description: Folder

Location

Location

Shelf

Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

Location

Container

PF Box 16

Shelf

Prop File Shelves, Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

BULL.056.002, BULL.056.003

Related Publications

Notes

Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 500

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

February 14, 2006

Updated By

admin@catalogit.app

Update Date

February 16, 2023