Name/Title
68 South Battery (Harth-Middleton House)Entry/Object ID
SBATTERY.068.1Scope and Content
Constructed ca. 1800; renovated after the earthquake 1886-1887; restored 1920s. A lumber mill owner and planter, John Harth, purchased a lot subdivided from the holdings of William Gibbes, builder of the house next door and owner of the large Gibbes wharf that stretched in front of this property in the 18th century. At that time Harth owned the westernmost lot on South Bay Street. He apparently built the core of the present house after 1797 and completed it just before 1802, when the city directory shows his residence as South Bay Street. Harth's lumber mill operated from the foot of this property and from nearby sites. At the time of John Harth's move to the Orangeburg district in 1816, he sold the property designated as "One South Battery" to Thomas Legare. Legare probably added the polygonal projection. Unlike most Charleston houses with side piazzas, the building is entered from the ground story through wrought-iron gates and a staircase leads to the principal floors. Much of Harth's original wood frame house was covered with stucco in the 19th century, an uncommon practice. With extensive damage in the earthquake of 1886, the older piazzas were rebuilt as enclosed additional living spaces and new side piazzas were added to the west, intersecting with the polygonal rear wing. In 1843 Legare's executor sold the property to Henry A. Middleton. The house remained in the Middleton family for 70 years before being sold to William J. Pettus of Maryland, who completed the restoration of the house and added a garden by Loutrel Briggs in the extensive walled lot to the west. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains house history (unattributed, undated); FOHG house histories (1994, 2004) and garden history (2004); historical research notes (Harlan Green, undated); news article (DYKYC, 1933); Preservation Progress notes and photo (March 1963) and inclusion on "valuable preservation" list (Jan. 1970); realtor's brochure with photographs (undated); letter from Jon Poston in support of the addition of more ironwork (1994); photocopies of historic photographs (undated, unattributed).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
SBATTERY.068.Source or Donor
68 South Battery (Harth-Middleton House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
South Battery, Eighteenth-Century Expansion, Loutrel Briggs garden, Historic buildings--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 98Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2011.015.1a-j, 2011.015.34, LENWOOD.030.1, SBATTERY.068.2Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 278-279.
FOH Tour booklets on Lowcountry Digital Library.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
April 16, 2012Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023