Name/Title
6 Glebe Street (St. Philip's Parsonage House a/k/a Old Rectory a/k/a Bishop Robert Smith House)Entry/Object ID
GLEBE.006.1Scope and Content
Constructed ca. 1770; restored 1965. Built by Affra Harleston Coming around 1770 as the parsonage house for the rector of St. Philip's Church in the center of a 4-acre tract carved from glebe lands left to the parish, this brick dwelling has served as the home of the state's first Episcopal bishop and is now the residence for the president of the College of Charleston. The rectory follows the Georgian double house plan, although its side end now faces the street. It has simple six-bay facades with central pedimented pavilions on its south principal elevation. Central door architraves approached by brick staircases with stuccoed rails, rubbed brick jack arches surmounting the principal windows and bull's-eye windows in the tympanum of the pediments add ornamentation to the Flemish bonded-brick facade. Although its stairway was replaced in the Federal period, the building retains much of its original Georgian paneling as well as some mantels and doors. Outbuildings, orchards, and pastures originally surrounded the building, then set in an undeveloped block. The Rev. Robert Smith, a graduate of Cambridge University who served after ordination under the bishop of London, arrived in Charleston in the late-1750s and became the rector of St. Philip's Church by 1759. Unlike most Anglican clergy, he fought as a patriot during the Revolution. Afterward he was a key figure in the organization of the Episcopal Church. After beginning an academy in the basement of this house, he was named the first president of the College of Charleston in 1785. He resigned the post after he became bishop of South Carolina. Known as Mrs. Eason's Boarding House at the time of the Civil War but still owned by the glebe, the house suffered substantial deterioration until 1965, when the College bought it from St. Philip's Church.
File contains brief narrative history (undated, unattributed); house history from Architectural Guide to Charleston (by Simons & Thomas); newspaper articles (including undated DYKYC); house history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston; house history from Tour Guide Training Manual (2011); house history from Gems in a Crown (Lightsey, 1993); entry from 60 Famous Houses; house history from Gems in a Crown (Erwin, 1976).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
GLEBE.006.Source or Donor
6 Glebe Street (St. Philip's Parsonage House a/k/a Bishop Robert Smith House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Glebe Street, Harleston Village, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, College of Charleston--Buildings, Rectories--South Carolina--Charleston, Parsonages--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 44Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2005.011.008, 2006.010.211-227, 2011.015.113a-c, 2011.015.29, 2016.014.32, GLEBE.006.2, GLEBE.006.3a-b, GLEBE.006.4Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 524-525General Notes
Note
Notes: Photo in this record from the Eberle Collection.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
July 7, 2008Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 16, 2023