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The Charleston Museum will commemorate two major anniversaries over the next two years. January 12, 2023 will mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the museum that would ultimately become The Charleston Museum. This year, we will observe 250 years since the completion of the Heyward-Washington House. Constructed in the heart of what was once the walled city, the location would have been prime real estate even in the 1770s.
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After leaving home and relocating to Philadelphia in the 1820s, the sisters began speaking out against slavery. At this time, it was unusual for women to speak publically, and they drew national attention. Later, both women became active in the early women’s suffrage movement.
Charleston Farmers Market ( Free Things to do in Charleston
The Charleston Museum initiated a purchase of the house in 1929 with assistance from the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings. The Museum engaged the local firm of Simons and Lapham, Architects, to both document and restore the house. Considered one of the finest examples of American colonial furniture, the Holmes-Edwards Bookcase is located in the withdrawing room of the house. Built between 1770 and 1775, the bookcase was likely constructed by Martin Pfeninger for John Edwards of 15 Meeting Street. The bookcase descended through the family when Edwards’ daughter, Elizabeth, married John Bee Holmes. We are a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to preserve the history of South Carolina’s historic, natural, and cultural landmarks before they are lost to time.
Historic Textiles Gallery
At the rear (west) of the house is a little courtyard, formed by the house, a kitchen/laundry/servant’s quarters building, and a carriage house. Further west is a small formal garden of the type popular in the late 18th century. The Heyward-Washington House was built in 1772 by Thomas Heyward Jr., one of the signers of the declaration of Independence. The city rented the house from Heyward for President George Washington’s week-long stay in Charleston in May 1791. The home is furnished with period pieces and the original kitchen is still present and open to the public. Visitors can also tour the formal gardens featuring plants commonly used in the South Carolina Lowcountry in the 18th century.
History
Best Things to Do in Charleston: Museums, Tours, Activities, Shopping - Business Insider
Best Things to Do in Charleston: Museums, Tours, Activities, Shopping.
Posted: Tue, 05 Apr 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
President George Washington rented this residence when he stayed in Charleston for a week during his 1791 tour of Southern states. At least two structures predated the Heyward-Washington House, both built by the Milner family. John Milner was a successful gunsmith, who repaired firearms for South Carolina’s colonial government. His son, also John, inherited the property and built a brick two-story house there, but, lacking the business acumen of his father, lost it due to excessive debts. Enter Daniel Heyward, one of the wealthiest rice planters in the colony, who purchased the lot at public auction in 1770, paying 5,500 pounds, the equivalent of $1.03 million today. After retiring from public service, Heyward sold the property to John Grimké, an officer in the Revolutionary War.
Similar to the Heyward family, the Grimkés were elite members of Charleston society who prospered from the institution of slavery. John Grimké and his family spent time at both their plantation home as well as their house in Charleston. Grimké was a slave-owner, yet his daughters, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, were outspoken critics of slavery. The two women became several of the first female abolitionists in America.
City Under Siege
Archaeology and documents reveal a long history of occupation, both before and after Heyward. A wooden house and outbuildings built in 1730 by the gunsmith John Milner burned in the Charleston fire of 1740. Milner and his son continued the smithing business with the aid of eleven slaves.
At the turn of the century, the storied house was used as a bake shop called H.W. The photo below faintly shows a sign in front of the shop that read “Bakery-Confectioner” (look just right of the door that stands between the two plate-glass windows). Heyward also supported independence from Britain and fought in several notable battles during the American Revolution. During the Siege of Charleston, residents fought to protect the city from the British but were eventually forced to surrender. After the battle, British troops arrested Heyward at his home and imprisoned him in the Old Exchange Building in Charleston. He was eventually sent to St. Augustine, Florida until freed in a prisoner-exchange.
Charleston Silver
The younger Heyward moved into the house, with his new bride, Elizabeth Matthews Heyward, whom he married on April 28, 1773, sometime before November 1773. President George Washington stayed here during his 1791 visit to the city. Built in 1772, this Georgian-style double house was the town home of Founding Father Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of four South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence. A patriot leader and artillery officer with the South Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War, Heyward was captured when the British took Charleston in 1780. In City Under Siege, discover how Charlestonians endured the greatest conflict in American history. A patriot leader and artillery officer with the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution, Heyward was captured when the British took Charleston in 1780.
It was saved from destruction by the Charleston Museum and the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings in 1929. Architectural research aided restoration of the first floor, while a study of Charleston gardens led to the creation of a period parterre (an ornamental garden with paths between the beds) in the rear lot. The house museum is furnished with period furniture and appointments, including Charleston-made furniture. The museum features a collection of historic Charleston-made furniture including the priceless Holmes Bookcase, considered one of the finest examples of American-made colonial furniture. The property also features the only 1740s kitchen building open to the public in Charleston as well as formal gardens featuring plants commonly used in the South Carolina Lowcountry in the late 18th century. Here you will see a superb collection of historic Charleston-made furniture including the priceless Holmes Bookcase, considered one of the finest examples of American-made colonial furniture.
Walkable, Wonderful Charleston - The New Yorker
Walkable, Wonderful Charleston.
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As in most trades throughout the city, the master craftsmen employed would have had dozens of enslaved people to perform much of this work. Given the numbers of craftsmen involved, the Heyward-Washington House and its outbuildings, in all probability, were built using large numbers of enslaved people. The Heyward-Washington House is a historic house museum at 87 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Built in 1772, it was home to Thomas Heyward, Jr., a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and was where George Washington stayed during his 1791 visit to the city.
In 1824, it was purchased by Mrs. Margaret Munro, who operated a boarding house. Margaret Munro left the house to her granddaughter, Elizabeth Jane Hervey, who married Tobias Cambridge Trott in 1857. Tobias Trott died unexpectedly in 1863, and with the Union bombardment of Charleston at the onset of the Civil War, Elizabeth fled to the upstate with her three young children. In Becoming Americans, explore Charleston’s important role in the American Revolution, from protest to independence.
Thomas Heyward razed the single house but kept Milner’s kitchen and stable. In the Loeblein Gallery of Charleston Silver discover the impressive work of the South’s finest craftsmen and women, from the colonial era through the Victorian Age. South Carolina is home to a multitude of historic homes and plantation sites. They were called home to individuals who influenced the course of history – for our state and our nation. The following homes are open and available for you to take a tour of the inside.
Some of these amazing houses are also available for weddings and other events. Note that some of these properties require tours be scheduled in advance, so please call ahead to make sure they’re open before you make the trip. Already involved in resistance to the royal government, 1773 was an active year for Thomas Heyward personally. Not only did he get married and take possession of his new town home that year, he also became a founder and curator of the newly established museum.
In the Natural History gallery you will see an extraordinary array of birds, reptiles and mammals that have called the South Carolina Lowcountry home since prehistory, including contributions from noted naturalists. In the Historic Textiles Gallery, the Museum features regularly rotating exhibits from its rich historic textiles and clothing collection, one of the finest in the southeastern United States. It was acquired by the Museum in 1929, opened the following year as Charleston's first historic house museum, and was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1978. By the end of the nineteenth century, a bakery operating out of the house installed a storefront sales room on the first floor, enlarging the windows and installing a door in the three southernmost bays.
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