Name/Title
72 Meeting Street (South Carolina Society Hall)Entry/Object ID
MEETING.072.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1803-04; additions, 1825, 1994. Gabriel Manigault, architect; renovations by Frederick Wesner, architect (1825). This Neoclassical hall was constructed for a fraternal society of French Huguenot businessmen and artisans formed in 1737 as the "Two-Bit Club" in honor of the weekly dues each member raised for the assistance of indigent members and their families. The lots on Meeting Street were acquired in 1800 and responsibility for the design of a hall was given to one of its members, gentleman architect Gabriel Manigault. Construction began in 1803 and was completed the next year. The T-shape plan provides two main stories over a service basement. The first level has three similarly sized rooms that served as billiards room, classroom, and schoolmaster's apartment. The second floor contains a large meeting room separated by large doors from the ballroom, which has a colonnaded Neoclassical canopy at the east end. In the 1820s the current pedimented portico projecting over the sidewalk was added, as were the brownstone stairs and iron railings. Damage in the Civil War bombardment and the earthquake of 1886 led to Victorian changes, including the south staircase and the Victorian plaster ceilings. The seal of the Society with the motto "Posterati" appears in the pediment. The building is a popular setting for receptions and other social events and contains extensive portrait collections of both the South Carolina Society and the St. Andrew's Society, the latter of which uses the front first floor room. A documented parterre garden formerly located in the lot to the north side may someday be restored. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains FOHG building histories (1995, 2004); building history from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry; newspaper articles (including 1956, 1968, 1985 DYKYC and news release about 1972 furniture exhibit); house history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston; historical/chain-of-title research notes (undated, unattributed); brief history of the South Carolina Society (unattributed); excerpts from various books of photographs; illustrations of ironwork (from Deas's "Early Ironwork"); measured drawing (floor plan) and set of elevations and floor plans (Phillips & Opperman, undated); grant application to SC Dept. of Archives and History to make various repairs and modifications (1994); letter explaining the Society's seal, "Posteritati"; photographs (photocopies) of the seal (possibly) before and after conservation (undated, unattributed0; history of the Charleston Bible Society, first organized at SC Society Hall (Peg Eastman, 2010).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
MEETING.072.Source or Donor
72 Meeting Street (S.C. Society Hall)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Meeting Street, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Societies--South Carolina--Charleston, Bible Society of Charleston (S.C.)Archive 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 71Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Manigault, GabrielPerson or Organization
Wesner, FrederickRelated Entries
Notes
2006.005.043, 2006.007.16, 2014.015.03, 2014.015.32, MEETING.072.2a-c, MEETING.072.3a-i, MEETING.072.4, MEETING.072.5, MEETING.072.6, MEETING.072.7Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 182.General Notes
Note
Notes: Image attached to record is from Art Work of Charleston.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
June 18, 2010Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 16, 2023