Augustus Taft House

Last updated March 12, 2019

The Augustus Taft House is a Greek Revival house at 57 Laurens St., Charleston, South Carolina in the historic Ansonborough neighborhood.

Charleston is the oldest and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston–Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline and is located on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. Charleston had an estimated population of 134,875 in 2017. The estimated population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was 761,155 residents in 2016, the third-largest in the state and the 78th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

Ansonborough is a neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1726, Captain George Anson acquired a 64-acre tract from Thomas Gadsden. Anson's lands were divided into smaller parcels for development, and several streets were named either for his ships or for himself: George and Anson, Scarborough and Squirrel, and Centurion. Scarborough and Centurion Streets correspond to modern Anson and Society Street, while Squirrel is now a part of Meeting Street. On April 24, 1838, the area was devastated by a fire that swept from the southwest to the northeast through the area. When rebuilding began, the state offered loans on the condition that brick was used. By the 1950s, the area had suffered from a serious decline, and the Historic Charleston Foundation developed a program to save the historic area using a revolving fund.

The house was constructed by Augustus Taft about 1836 using black cypress. Its interior has three fireplaces done in black Italian marble and pine flooring. The house has large, three-part windows that permit access to the piazzas.^[1]

The house's interior retains the original room configuration. The front door in on the north facade and opens onto a stair hall. There are twin parlors to the right (the west side of the house) and a dining room. Behind the house is a three-story kitchen house. The house was two-story piazzas on the west side.

Augustus Taft, a member of the same New England family of President Taft, built the house in 1836, and it survived a fire in 1838 that devastated most of the Ansonborough neighborhood. Taft's daughter married Pierre Gaillard Stoney, and the house remained in the family more than one hundred years. In 1865, the house was used to house freed slaves by the Freedmen's Bureau for six months.^[2]

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of the United States Department of War to "direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children."

The house (both inside and out) is protected by a preservation easement given to the Historic Charleston Foundation.

Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF) was founded in 1947 to preserve and protect the integrity of architectural, historical and cultural heritage of Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The Foundation undertakes advocacy, participation in community planning, educational and volunteer programs, the preservation of properties, research, and technical and financial assistance programs. Katharine "Kitty" Robinson has served as president and CEO of the Historic Charleston Foundation since 2000.

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References

↑ Fix, Sybil (May 30, 2015). "Couple's historic Laurens Street home becomes gathering place, showcase for Italian culture". Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
↑ Poston, Jonathan (1997). The Buildings of Charleston. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. pp. 454–55.

Coordinates: 32°47′08″N79°55′50″W / 32.78551°N 79.93064°W / 32.78551; -79.93064

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

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[1] Fix, Sybil (May 30, 2015). "Couple's historic Laurens Street home becomes gathering place, showcase for Italian culture". Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. Retrieved May 31, 2015.

[2] Poston, Jonathan (1997). The Buildings of Charleston. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. pp. 454–55.