West Point Rice Mill

Last updated

West Point Rice Mill
West Point Rice Mill, Ashley River, Near Calhoun Street, Charleston (Charleston County, South Carolina).jpg
West Point Rice Mill in 1940
USA South Carolina location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationCity Marina
17 Lockwood Dr., Charleston, South Carolina
Coordinates 32°46′44″N79°57′4″W / 32.77889°N 79.95111°W / 32.77889; -79.95111
Built1861
Architect Delano and Aldrich
Works Progress Administration (1930s renovations)
NRHP reference No. 94001569 [1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 20, 1995

West Point Rice Mill is a former rice mill building in Charleston, South Carolina. It is at the City Marina at 17 Lockwood Drive. [2] West Point Mill was one of three large rice mills in Charleston in the 19th century. This building was constructed in 1861 to replace a rice mill that had burned the previous year. [3] It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 1995. [1] [4]

Contents

History

In 1840, Jonathan Lucas III built a four-story brick, steam-powered rice mill on the Ashley River. [5] [6] This mill burned on November 20, 1860. [3]

Construction of a new mill began quickly. Although hampered by the Union blockade, the mill was capable of full operation in late 1863. When Charleston was occupied by the Union Army in 1865, the mill was used as a food distribution center. [3] Its neighbour the East Point Rice Mill had been rebuilt in the mid-1840s by engineer James McLaren and the Scottish merchant James Robb. The mill passed to Robb's sons James Jr and William on his death in 1859.

After the Civil War, the mill resumed operations and its production increased. In 1886, it suffered damage from the 1886 Charleston earthquake. Brickwork was damaged and the gables were brought down. At some point before the 1920s, the entire roof was replaced except for the kingposts and trusses. [3]

In 1890, the three Charleston mills produced over 97,000 barrels of rice. Competition from western rice growers and a number of hurricanes caused rice production in South Carolina to fall. In 1888, West Point Mill Company purchased a share of Chisolm's Mill. In 1894, West Point and Bennett's Mill combined and bought Chisolm's Mill, which was closed. Rice production continued to fall. West Point Mill was closed in 1920, and the company began to sell its assets. Around 1925, the mill's steam engine was sold to the Henry Ford Museum. The mill's property was sold to the City of Charleston in 1926. [3]

In 1930, the U.S. Post Office indicated its desire to build a seaplane base for mail service at the site. Although this was never accomplished, it planted the idea of a seaplane terminal at the site. [3]

In 1933, the Civil Works Administration started building the Municipal Yacht Basin. Later that year, the building was leased to American Bagging Company as a depot and warehouse for jute imported for its plant on Meeting Street. [3]

The City of Charleston continued to explore opportunities for using the building as a seaplane terminal. In the spring of that year, flights from Germany to Charleston were proposed. In early 1937, the Works Progress Administration started work to convert the mill building into the James F. Byrnes air terminal. Pan American World Airways hired the New York firm of Delano and Aldrich to plan for a passenger station. [3] [4] Reconstruction efforts were carried out on the exterior and first two floors. [3]

With the start of World War II in Europe, transatlantic service was abandoned. The City competed for a naval seaplane base, but it went to Jacksonville, Florida. The building was occupied by the Charleston District of the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1941, the building was taken over for the administration of the Charleston Area Inshore Patrol of the Sixth Naval District. In 1946, it became the headquarters for the Sixth Naval District Mine Craft Base. It was used by the U.S. Navy through the 1950s when it was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. From 1966 to around 1986, the Trident Chamber of Commerce was located in the building along with some commercial tenants. After that, the building was again vacant. [3] [7]

In the fall of 1989, the building suffered from a fire with significant damage to an addition. Then Hurricane Hugo damaged the roof. After repairs, it was leased to the Bennett-Hofford Company. [3] Bennett-Hofford performed a $3 million renovation to the building before the structure was added to the National Register, and several offices and restaurants have occupied the building since. [8] The restoration received one of the Preservation Society of Charleston's Carolopolis Awards in 1995. [9]

Architecture

The original building is 142 ft (43 m) long and 42 ft (13 m) wide with a gabled roof. Although it was the largest of the Charleston rice mills, it lacked the architectural detailing of the other two buildings. The Flemish bond brick building is three and one-half stories above ground level. There are eleven bays along the west or Ashley River elevation. The center three bays project slightly forward. It has a Palladian style with stuccoed Doric pilasters demarking the three bays of the main portico on the west elevation and pilasters on the either side of the last bay of both the east and west elevations. There are pairs of pilasters at the end of the north and south elevations. Two-story wings that are 36 ft (11 m) long and 26 ft (8 m) wide extend from the outer bays of the east elevation. The mill had two octagonal smokestacks on its east side. [3]

The earthquake bolts installed in after the earthquake in 1886 are still visible on the building and its wings. The damaged gables were patched with roofing materials. [3]

The renovations starting in 1937 were relatively minor on the exterior and major for the interior. The smokestacks were removed and a new entry was built on the east elevation. The ground level was rebuilt on a concrete slab. The gable brickwork was restored, but the brickwork was poorly matched. Demilune windows were put in the gables. Oculus windows were put in window openings on third level of the central gable on the west side. Cast-stone sills were installed in the first-floor windows. Only the first and second floors were completed. [3]

After 1946, a first floor lobby was constructed in front of the central bays of the west side. This had a balcony on its roof with iron railing. After the 1989 fire, the balcony railing was removed and the west elevation rebuilt with three arched openings. [3]

An elevator was installed in the 1960s on the east side entrance. [3]

After the damage from Hurricane Hugo, the roof was replaced with standing-seam copper. Four shed dormers were added to the west side of the roof. [3]

Additional pictures are available. [4] [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boone Hall</span> Historic house in South Carolina, United States

Boone Hall Plantation is a historic district located in Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The plantation is one of America's oldest plantations still in operation, as it has continually produced agricultural crops for over 320 years. The majority of this labor, as well as the construction of the buildings and its characteristic bricks, was performed by enslaved African Americans. For this reason, the site was named one of the African American Historic Places in South Carolina in 2009. The historic district includes a 1936 Colonial Revival-style dwelling, and multiple significant landscape features, including an allée of southern live oak trees, believed to have been planted in 1743. The site is open for public tours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security Building (Miami, Florida)</span> United States historic place

The Security Building is a historic site in Miami, Florida. It is located at 117 Northeast 1st Avenue. On January 4, 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The building has 16 floors with a height of 225 feet (69 m) and was built from 1926 to 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middleton Place</span> United States historic place

Middleton Place is a plantation in Dorchester County, along the banks of the Ashley River west of the Ashley and about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of downtown Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Built in several phases during the 18th and 19th centuries, the plantation was the primary residence of several generations of the Middleton family, many of whom played prominent roles in the colonial and antebellum history of South Carolina. The plantation, now a National Historic Landmark District, is used as a museum, and is home to the oldest landscaped gardens in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Gibbes House</span> Historic house in South Carolina, United States

The William Gibbes House is a historic house at 64 South Battery in Charleston, South Carolina. Built about 1772, it is one of the nation's finest examples of classical Georgian architecture. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Marine Hospital (Charleston, South Carolina)</span> United States historic place

The Old Marine Hospital is a historic medical building at 20 Franklin Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Built 1831–33 to a design by Robert Mills, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 for its association with Mills, and as a high-quality example of Gothic Revival architecture. The hospital was built as a public facility for the treatment of sick sailors and other transient persons.

The Hood–Anderson Farm is a historic home and farm and national historic district located at Eagle Rock, Wake County, North Carolina, a suburb of the state capital Raleigh. The main house was built about 1839, and is an example of transitional Federal / Greek Revival style I-house. It is two stories with a low-pitched hip roof and a rear two-story, hipped-roof ell. The front facade features a large, one-story porch, built in 1917, supported by Tuscan order columns. Also on the property are the contributing combined general store and post office (1854), a one-room dwelling, a two-room tenant/slave house, a barn (1912), a smokehouse, and several other outbuildings and sites including a family cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas R. McGuire House</span> Historic house in Arkansas, United States

The Thomas R. McGuire House, located at 114 Rice Street in the Capitol View Historic District of Little Rock, Arkansas, is a unique interpretation of the Colonial Revival style of architecture. Built by Thomas R. McGuire, a master machinist with the Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, it is the finest example of the architectural style in the turn-of-the-century neighborhood. It is rendered from hand-crafted or locally manufactured materials and serves as a triumph in concrete block construction. Significant for both its architecture and engineering, the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elms (Mechanic Falls, Maine)</span> United States historic place

The Elms is a historic building at the junction of Lewiston and Elm Streets in Mechanic Falls, Maine. Built as a hotel in 1859 and used for a variety of purposes since then, the substantial building is a fine late expression of Greek Revival architecture, and a reminder of the town's heyday as an industrial center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Custom House (Charleston, South Carolina)</span> United States historic place

The U.S. Custom House or U.S. Customhouse is the custom house in Charleston, South Carolina. Construction began in 1852, but was interrupted in 1859 due to costs and the possibility of South Carolina's secession from the Union. After the Civil War, construction was restarted in 1870 and completed in 1879. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974. It is also a contributing property of the Charleston Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedge Plantation</span> Historic house in South Carolina, United States

The Wedge Plantation, which is also known as The Wedge or the William Lucas House, is a plantation about 5 mi (8 km) east of McClellanville in Charleston County, South Carolina. The plantation is a wedge-shaped property between the Harrietta Plantation and the Fairfield Plantation. The plantation house was built around 1830. It is located off US Highway 17 near the Santee River. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrietta Plantation</span> Historic house in South Carolina, United States

Harrieta Plantation is a plantation about 5 mi (8 km) east of McClellanville in Charleston County, South Carolina. It is located off US Highway 17 near the Santee River, adjacent to the Wedge Plantation and just south of Fairfield Plantation. The plantation house was built around 1807 and was named to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield Plantation (Charleston County, South Carolina)</span> Historic house in South Carolina, United States

Fairfield Plantation, also known as the Lynch House is a plantation about 5 mi (8 km) east of McClellanville in Charleston County, South Carolina. It is adjacent to the Wedge Plantation and just north of Harrietta Plantation. The plantation house was built around 1730. It is located just off US Highway 17 near the Santee River. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Congregational Church and Meetinghouse</span> Historic church in Vermont, United States

The First Congregational Church and Meetinghouse, also known as the Church of Christ and the Townshend Church, is a historic church at 34 Common Road in Townshend, Vermont. Built in 1790 and restyled in 1840, it is one of the oldest church buildings in continuous use in the state. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002; the congregation was established in 1777, and is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Creek Academy</span> United States historic place

The Long Creek Academy is a former Christian school that is located at the intersection of Academy Road and South Carolina S-37-339 near U.S. Route 76 near Long Creek, South Carolina in Oconee County. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 1987. It is currently used by a whitewater rafting company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Reformed Church (Washington, D.C.)</span> Historic church in Washington, D.C., United States

Grace Reformed Church is a historic church building in Northwest, Washington, D.C. A notable member was Theodore Roosevelt, who regularly attended services there during his term as United States president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebron Church (Intermont, West Virginia)</span> Historic Lutheran church in Intermont, West Virginia

Hebron Church is a mid-19th-century Lutheran church in Intermont, Hampshire County, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Hebron Church was founded in 1786 by German settlers in the Cacapon River Valley, making it the first Lutheran church west of the Shenandoah Valley. The congregation worshiped in a log church, which initially served both Lutheran and Reformed denominations. Its congregation was originally German-speaking; the church's documents and religious services were in German until 1821, when records and sermons transitioned to English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Chatham Historic District</span> Historic district in New York, United States

North Chatham Historic District is a historic district consisting of most or all of the hamlet of North Chatham in Columbia County, New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Chisolm House</span> House in Charleston, South Carolina

Constructed about 1810, in the Federal style, for George Chisolm, a factor, the two-and-one-half story George Chisolm House is the first house to have been built upon the landfill project that formed Charleston, South Carolina's Battery. The garden to the south of the house was designed by Loutrel Briggs, and later modified by Sheila Wertimer. The address is 39 East Bay Street; it formerly was 39 East Battery Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grahame's Corner</span> Heritage-listed building in Sydney, Australia

Grahame's Corner is a heritage-listed commercial and office building located at 142-144 Pitt Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by G. A. Morell and built from 1877 to 1882. It is also known as Grahams Corner and the AMFIS Building. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grimethorpe Hall</span> Manor house in South Yorkshire, England

Grimethorpe Hall is a manor house in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England. Built circa 1670 for Robert Seaton, it is thought to be in the style of York architect Robert Trollope. Around 1800 the hall passed to John Farrar Crookes of Tunbridge Wells. It was last used as a house in the 1960s and afterwards was purchased by the National Coal Board. The National Coal Board applied to demolish it in 1981 but, after a campaign by the Ancient Monuments Society, this was unsuccessful. The structure received statutory protection as a grade II* listed building in 1985.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "+32° 46' 44.00", −79° 57' 4.00"". Google Maps. Google Maps. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Fick, Sarah; Laurens, John (March 20, 1994). "West Point Rice Mill" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form. National Park Service. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 "West Point Rice Mill, Charleston County (Jct. of Lockwood Dr. & Calhoun St., Charleston)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  5. Leiding, Harriette Kershaw (1921). Historic houses of South Carolina. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: B. Lippincott Company. p.  109. Historic houses of South Carolina West Point Rice Mill.
  6. Edgar, Walter, ed. (2006). South Carolina Encyclopedia. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. p. 573. ISBN   1-57003-598-9.
  7. WestPointRiceMillHalseyMap Preservation Society Halsey Map
  8. Behre, Robert (February 15, 1995). "Rice mill breathes new life". The Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina: Evening Post Publishing Company. Retrieved June 1, 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. Munday, Dave (January 15, 1995). "26 Charleston buildings win Carolopolis Awards". The Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina: Evening Post Publishing Company. Retrieved June 1, 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. Greene, C.O; Bayless, Charles N. (c. 1978) [1940]. "West Point Rice Mill, Ashley River, Near Calhoun Street, Charleston, Charleston County, SC (Photographs)". Historic American Buildings Survey. National Park Service.[ permanent dead link ]