Name/Title
14 Thomas Street (St. Mark's Episcopal Church)Entry/Object ID
THOMAS.014.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1875-78. St. Mark's Episcopal Church, at the corner of Thomas and Warren Streets, reflects the surviving popularity of Greek Revival style in post-Civil War Charleston. St. Mark's was organized in 1865 largely by families holding free status before the Civil War. The church building, erected by the local architect Louis J. Barbot, has served Episcopal African-American congregations for more than a century. Barbot's design for St. Mark's appears to be a simplified version of the Spring Street Methodist Church, which was designed by Barbot and his partner, John H. Seyle, nearly 20 years earlier. The interior design of the building is somewhat similar to the Church of the Holy Communion, located on Ashley Avenue, and contains a highly ornamented altar of wood and plaster. Dr. Toomer Porter, founder of Porter Military Academy, served both congregations as a rector. St. Mark's is a classic temple-form structure with a heavy pedimented gable end. The portico has four columns topped by Corinthian capitals. These capitals support a full entablature with three fascias in the architrave, a plain frieze, a cornice with dentils, ovolo molding, and a single corona. The cornice is repeated in the pediment. The tympanum, like the body of the structure, is faced with narrow boards. The church has three doors facing Thomas Street, all of which have simple surrounds and molded cornices. Each doorway is folding, consisting of three sunken panels to each leaf. The transom door also consists of four sunken panels. There are ten triple-hung windows of richly ornamented stained glass. Pilasters, without bases or caps, lie between each bay on the front and side facades of the church. The masonry foundation has an arched panel under each of the side windows. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains newspaper articles (1980 and undated DYKYC); building history from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry; building history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston (1984); building history from City of Charleston Tour Guide Training Manual (2011); excerpt from Historic Churches of Charleston; excerpt from African-Americans and Charleston: Histories Intertwined; historical/chain-of-title research notes; photocopy of measured floor plan.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
THOMAS.014.Source or Donor
14 Thomas Street (St. Mark's Episcopal Church)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Thomas Street, Radcliffeborough and Cannonborough, Churches/Synagogues/Houses of Worship, St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church (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 100Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Barbot, Louis J.Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 640-641General Notes
Note
Notes: Image in this record from Whit Smith loan collection.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
May 16, 2012Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 16, 2023