Name/Title
Old City Jail (21 Magazine Street)Entry/Object ID
MAGAZINE.021.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1802; alterations 1820s; wings constructed 1855. Improvements by Robert Mills, architect; wings constructed by Barbot and Seyle. The 4 blocks surrounding the city jail were designated in 1680 as public lands and have long been the location of institutions serving the poor, the sick, and the dispossessed. In addition to housing a series of powder magazines that were erected on Magazine Street beginning in 1737, this land was used as a public burying ground, the poorhouse, the marine and other hospitals, the workhouse, and the jail. In his Statistics of South Carolina, published in 1826, Robert Mills describes the institutions of this block: "Lunatic Asylum - This benevolent institution was founded in 1822; the building is now ready for the reception of patients; it will contain 150, nearly all in separate rooms; the plan of the building is such as to admit of any extension, without departure from the original design...The original act of Legislature making appropriations for a Lunatic Asylum including also an Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb...The public prison is situated on Magazine Street...It is a large three story brick building with very roomy and comfortable accommodations...There has been lately added to it a four story wing building, devoted exclusively to the confinement of criminals. It is divided into solitary cells, one for each criminal, and the whole made fire proof. A spacious court is attached...Very good health is enjoyed by the prisoners. The work house, adjoining the jail is appropriated entirely to the confinement and punishment of slaves. These were formerly compelled only occasionally to work; no means then existing of employing them regularly and effectually. The last year the City Council ordered the erection of a tread-mill; this has proved a valuable appendage to the prison, and will supercede every other species of punishment there." The building was renovated by the architects Barbot and Seyle in the 1850s. Until the earthquake of 1886, the design also included a substantial tower. The wing described by Mills was his own design, but it was replaced by the 1850s wing, which remains. Union troops, including the remnant of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, were quartered here during the Civil War. The facility served as the county jail until the 1930s and later became the property of the City Housing Authority of Charleston. Since 2000, after sitting vacant for over 60 years, it served as the downtown campus of the American College of the Building Arts until 2016. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
Folder 1 contains historical report and event program from the 1994 presentation of the HABS documentation (1994); article by Robert Stockton "Old Jail Restored as Museum" (1976); excerpt from "Robert Mills: Architect in SC"; newspaper articles (including undated, 1978, 1985 DYKYC); building history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston; illustrated trifold card with brief historical notes; copy of 1835 plat.
Folders 2 and 3 contain correspondence and other documentation related to future directions and the preservation and stabilization of the building (1995-96); report entitled "A Structural Evaluation of the Old City Jail" (Cummings & McCrady, 2/9/1995); correspondence from the City of Charleston dated 10/21/1999 regarding proposed disposition of the Old Charleston Jail; Huguley Group proposal to rehabilitate the building ("Robert Mills Manor: Preliminary Proposal for the Housing Authority (1998); "An Evaluation of the Structural Floor Systems in the Charleston, South Carolina Jail" (undated, unattributed); "Report on Structural Survey of The Old Jail, Charleston Housing Authority (Shoolbred Engineers, 1986).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
MAGAZINE.021.Source or Donor
21 Magazine Street (Old City Jail)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Magazine Street, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Jails--South Carolina--Charleston, Old City Jail (Charleston, S.C.)Archive Details
Archive Size/Extent
3 File FoldersArchive 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 66Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Mills, RobertPerson or Organization
Barbot, Louis J.Person or Organization
Seyle, John H.Related Entries
Notes
2004.020.082, 2006.007.57, 2011.022.87a-l, 2018.005.42, MAGAZINE.021.2, MAGAZINE.021.3A-B, MAGAZINE.021.4a-c, MAGAZINE.021.5, MAGAZINE.021.6a-b
Related Units of Description: Preservation Consultants files (Part I and/or Part II applications and/or photos and/or miscellaneous documentation), 2011.022.1Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 392-393General Notes
Note
Notes: Also known as Charleston County Jail, Old Charleston Jail.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
June 7, 2007Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023