Name/Title
186 King Street (Hahnbaum-Moffett Building)Entry/Object ID
KING.186.1Scope and Content
Constructed before 1788; restored 1978. The restoration of this decorative wooden corner structure was hailed by preservationists in the 1970s as a triumph of commercial restoration. The pre-1800 structure was built by a German physician, Dr. George Hahnbaum, one of the founders of the Medical Society of South Carolina. Hahnbaum's building with beaded wood siding on the north wall and a stuccoed south wall was re-fronted in the early-19th century, probably by John Rudolph Switzer, a saddler who used the building until his death in 1811. Switzer may have lived here, but he also constructed a residence at 6 Montagu Street in 1803. Andrew Moffett, a dry goods dealer, bought the site in 1835. Moffett built the fine brick house at 328 East Bay Street as his residence. The outstanding feature of the building is its front facade with a ground story, classical entablature with a triglyph frieze supported by 4 engaged, fluted columns surmounted by 2 levels ornamented with Ionic pilasters and topped by a modillioned parapet. Frances Edmunds, then executive director of Historic Charleston Foundation, saved the first-floor columns when the ground story was demolished in an insensitive 1940s conversion of the building to a tavern. In the 1978 rehabilitation these columns were returned and the building was fully restored.
File contains newspaper articles (including 1977, 1979 DYKYC); building history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston; correspondence related to HCF's position on proposed paint color (1985); photocopy of image from This is Charleston.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
KING.186.Source or Donor
186 King Street (Hahnbaum-Moffett Building)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
King Street, Corner store, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Corner stores--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 52Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentLocation
Container
2Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
KING.186.2, KING.186.3a-b, KING.186.4, KING.186.5a-f, KING.186.6
Related Units of Description: King Street Survey (KING.GEN.001) and King Street "General" files (KING.GEN.002)Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), p. 356-357Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
November 10, 2008Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023