Name/Title
281-283 King Street (Kress Building)Entry/Object ID
KING.281-283.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1931. Despite the distinction of enclosed piazzas and adaptations of the single house, King Street has elements that are common to most Main Streets in the United States. One of these elements is the dime store. Samuel H. Kress was a schoolteacher and entrepreneur who began his company in 1887 by purchasing a stationery shop in Pennsylvania. By 1896, Kress had developed his first chain, with a second store in Pennsylvania and a third in Memphis, Tennessee. A national headquarters was established in New York City in 1900 to oversee his 12 stores. S.H. Kress set his chain apart by building his stores with unusual architectural designs and never leasing. He was so interested in architectural design that he developed his own architectural division in his New York office. Kress's personal touch to each store was the incorporation of his German family coat of arms on the interior and, by the 1930s, on all storefronts. 281 King Street is typical of Kress's Art Deco buildings with its yellow brick facade, its polychrome terra cotta detailing, vertical orientation, and abstract and geometric designs.
Three files contain documentation of the easement on the property (photocopy) including related correspondence; requests for alterations and related correspondence; excerpts (building history) from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry and The Buildings of Charleston; magazine article "Five & Dime Design" (source not indicated, 1994?); newspaper articles (including 1982 DYKYC); handwritten staff research "source notes" (scant).
See Easement Manager's working files for more information.
See Easement Documentation Photo Files for easement donation photographs (Exh. B to Deed of Conservation Easement) (unlabeled).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
KING.281-283.Source or Donor
281 King Street (Kress Building)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Commercial buildingsSearch Terms
King Street, Easement Property, Historic buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 Gift Folder
1 Management Folder
1 History/Miscellaneous 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 53Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2011.022.89a-c, KING.281-283.2
Related Units of Description: King Street Survey (KING.GEN.001) and King Street "General" files (KING.GEN.002)
Easement Manager's working files
Preservation Consultants files for 281 King (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. 372Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
August 17, 2009Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023