Name/Title
329 East Bay Street (Gadsden-Morris House)Entry/Object ID
EBAY.329.1Scope and Content
Constructed ca. 1800; partially restored 1960. One of the tallest and most finely detailed of Charleston's Federal single houses, this house was built after 1798 on land formerly owned by Christopher Gadsden. Although traditionally called the Gadsden House, the building was probably built by Thomas Morris, a Gadsden son-in-law whose name appears on the lot on the 1790s map of this portion of Middlesex; Philip Gadsden is shown on the same map as living at 328 East Bay Street. The property had subsequent owners of prominence, including Col. Elnathan Haskell, a Revolutionary War hero; Dr. Benjamin Bonneau Simons, an outstanding medical practitioner; and, after the Civil War, the Right Reverend W. B. W. Howe, Episcopal bishop of South Carolina. The building has fine brickwork as well as important carved marble keystones, window sills and door architrave, along with surviving Neoclassical wooden elements. The present iron gates were designed in collaboration between Samuel G. Stoney, architectural historian, and Philip Simmons, noted Charleston ironworker. The gates remain one of Simmons's most important works. This house was given to Historic Charleston Foundation by a Gadsden descendant in 1959. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
Three files contain documentation of the covenant on the property; correspondence related to the covenant (including right-of-first-refusal); documentation of the sale of the property; annual inspection reports; requests for alterations; correspondence and other documentation related to the management of the property; title and historical research; excerpt from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston; newspaper articles (including 1951, 1961 DYKYC); "Historic Market Assessment" (historical research, structural evolution, architectural assessment, conservation/preservation potential, maps and photographs (Luxury Simplified/Anna Krueger, 2015); of "Typical Finial for Gadsden Gateway" and "Sketch Gateway" (Stoney, 1961); photocopy of HABS drawings (1940); paint sample of the first coat of the front hall ceiling; copy of HCF covenant information card; documentation of HCF's acquisition, rehabilitation (DeCosta), and rental/sale of the property;
See Covenant/Easement Inspection Photo Files for inspection photography.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
EBAY.329.Source or Donor
329 East Bay Street (Gadsden-Morris House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
East Bay Street, Ansonborough, Covenant Property, Philip Simmons ironwork, Historic buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 Covenant Folder
1 Management Folder
2 History/Miscellaneous 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 40Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2005.006.6, 2011.015.18, 2014.020.05, EBAY.329.10, EBAY.329.11a-i, EBAY.329.12a-b, EBAY.329.13, EBAY.329.14a-b, EBAY.329.15a-k, EBAY.329.16a-c, EBAY.329.17, EBAY.329.18, EBAY.329.19, EBAY.329.2, EBAY.329.20, EBAY.329.21, EBAY.329.22, EBAY.329.23, EBAY.329.24a-b, EBAY.329.25, EBAY.329.26a-e, EBAY.329.27a-b, EBAY.329.3, EBAY.329.4, EBAY.329.5, EBAY.329.6, EBAY.329.8, EBAY.329.9a-h
Related Units of Description: See H.A. DeCosta Company invoice collection, 2009.011.1.
See also Easement Manager's working files for more information.Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 434-435General Notes
Note
Notes: HCF previously rented out this property (1980s).
Photo 3 in this record was taken by Philip Staats. This was one of 8 negatives sent to Karen Emmons by Cathy Forrester on 8/5/2014 for identification. Cynthia Coker identified the building.
Medical Leech Museum brochure: PDF on Media tab.
Hist/Misc Folder #2 contains correspondence and other documents from the Frances Edmunds "Gadsden House Restoration" file including estimates, contracts, reports, ledger cards, Trustee Minutes, guest list for Gadsden House Kitchen House opening (May 27-30, 1959), etc. Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr. was the general contractor. Also includes letters (1960) from Loutrel Briggs, Samuel Stoney, and Albert Simons.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
April 30, 2008Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023