Name/Title
701 East Bay Street (Cigar Factory)Entry/Object ID
EBAY.701.1Scope and Content
Also known and operated as the Charleston Manufacturing Company and the Charleston Cotton Mills, the Cigar Factory is significant as a largely intact example of a late 19th century industrial plant built in the Victorian commercial style. Also important for its contributions to Charleston’s economy from post-Reconstruction through the Great Depression and on into the 1970s, the firm was incorporated as the Charleston Manufacturing Company in 1880 and has been in operation since construction of the building was completed in 1882. Originally built as a textile factory, the building became locally known as the Cigar Factory when the American Cigar Company purchased the property in 1912. The main building is 5 stories of brick in common bond with a flat metal roof, and central 6-story brick water tower, which also houses an elevator. Immediately adjacent to the water tower is a 4-story masonry addition without windows, which was part of the cooling and dehumidifying system added during the Cigar Factory period (1912-1973). The property also includes a ca. 1885 2-story brick addition, a 2-story brick office building used originally as the picker house, two 2-story brick engine houses, and a one-story brick boiler house. The boiler house also has an associated 5-story brick chimney. The building is also one of the few surviving large-scale industrial buildings from the Victorian era in Charleston. Listed in the National Register November 25, 1980. (Source: SC Dept. of Archives & History "National Register Sites in SC" website. See Multimedia Link for URL.)
File contains narrative history; newspaper articles; National Register Nomination Form; occupancy history from Old Codgers' Charleston Address Book; photocopy of page from Charleston Yesterday and Today; Sanborn Maps (1902, 1944, 1951).
No photos on file. Images in this record from SCDAH (National Register) website. (See Multimedia Link.)Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
EBAY.701.Source or Donor
701 East Bay Street (Cigar Factory)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
East Bay Street, National Register of Historic Places, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Factories--South Carolina--Charleston, Commercial buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 File FolderArchive Notes
Associated Material: Cigar Factory Strike (online exhibit, LDHI; see Media link)
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 41Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentGeneral Notes
Note
Notes: To find the Cigar Factory on Sanborn Maps, look for Drake, Blake, and Columbus Streets.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
May 6, 2008Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 16, 2023