Name/Title
387 King Street (Francis Marion Hotel)Entry/Object ID
KING.387.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1922-1924; renovated 1980s; rehabilitated and restored 1994-95. William Lee Stoddard, architect. The New York architect who designed some of the South's finest hotels, including the Tuttwiler in Birmingham and the Georgian Terrace in Atlanta, designed a large new hotel for Charleston in 1920. Part of a movement to give Charleston an up-to-date modern hotel, the Francis Marion Hotel Company included some of Charleston's leading businessmen and two former mayors. Although the newspaper referred to the style of the structure as "Italian Renaissance," the building reflects elements of the Georgian Revival and Neoclassical Revival styles. The first floor lobby and mezzanine are fronted on the exterior by arched window openings framed in the central pavilion by double Corinthian pilasters surmounted by an "attic story" with Neoclassical urns and cartouches. A balcony surrounded the twelfth floor, and above it an entablature with fanlight and cartouche decoration terminated in a Greek style parapet with acroteri. The penthouse floor rose above this decorated level. Serving as an important part of the city's tourism and business life, the Francis Marion also became a social center after its completion, particularly with the use of its elegant ballroom for debutante dances and other events. After declining in the 1960s and 1970s, the hotel went through a renovation in the 1980s and a completely rehabilitated in 1994-96.
File contains newspaper articles (including DYKYC); letter from HCF to Mayor Riley (12/7/1990) in support of the hotel's rehabilitation; brochure and "Directory of Service," ca. 1960s.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
KING.387.Source or Donor
387 King Street (Francis Marion Hotel)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
King Street, Calhoun Street, Street corner, Francis Marion Hotel (Charleston S.C.), Hotels--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 BoxShelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentLocation
Container
PF Box 55Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2011.022.86, 2011.023.1, 2011.023.2, 2018.013.2, KING.387.2
Postcard: 2009.009.4s.
Related Units of Description: Preservation Consultants files (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. 384-385General Notes
Note
Notes: Located at the corner of King Street and Calhoun Street, across the street from Marion Square.
Photo 2 from pamphlet P195; photo 3 from P210.
Brochure and "Directory of Service" donated by Maxie ____, 2011.023.
Height: 165'Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
September 17, 2009Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023