Draft:Buildings in the Charleston Historic District

The Charleston Historic District is a large urban U.S. historic district in Charleston, South Carolina that consists of most of the historic peninsular heart of the city. It was the first historic district designated by any government in the U.S., when it was established in 1931. The district was expanded, then it was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1960. A further expanded area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

The district covers most of the historic peninsular heart of the city and contains an unparalleled collection of 18th and 19th-century architecture, including many distinctive Charleston "single houses". It was declared to be a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

As noted by the New York Preservation Archive Project, the Charleston Old and Historic District's creation in 1931 established "the first historic district protected by local legislation in the United States and inspired legal protection of historic sites in New York City."

The district was about 770 acre in area in 1966.

Maps of the original 1931 district (which became a National Historic Landmark in 1960), the expansion of that National Historic Landmark district in 1966, and the greater area covered in the 1975 listing on the National Register of Historic Places, are on pages 281-84 of NARA collection. What NARA currently provides at "Charleston Historic District" is very different from a regular NRHP or NHL submission; it includes no NRHP or NHL forms at all. Instead it includes much correspondence relating to the designation of the Charleston Historic District as an NHL. It in fact includes the nation-wide study of which places were obviously eligible for NHL designation in 1960, a list including the Charleston Historic District. This was conveyed in an October 9, 1960 release from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton (pages 36-55). This includes a nation-wide list of sites eligible (p.38-53). An outline of themes identified in the National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings (which the National Park Service? was authorized to undertake in 1935 legislation) is (p.54-55). (Charleston Mayor J. Palmer Gaillard, Jr. formally accepted the designation in 1962; not all other NHL candidate places did.) Includes correspondence, photos, plans, more.

At least 46 buildings in the district have been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).

Below is an incomplete list of relevant buildings inside the Charleston Historic District:

Selected contributing properties
"These latter include forty-six buildings listed in Historic American Buildings Survey, Records of Buildings in Charleston and the South CaroTina Low Country, Harley J. McKee, Compiler, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, Eastern Office, Design and Construction, Philadelphia, 1965. They are listed as follows:" [The list of 46 is cut off; apparently a page in source is missing from PDF available online.]
 * 1) Bank of South Carolina, 50 Broad St.
 * 2) Bank of United States, NE corner Broad and Meeting Sts.
 * 3) Bennett, Thomas, House, 89 Smith St.
 * 4) Blacklock, William, House, 18 Bull St.
 * 5) Blacklock, William, Carriage House
 * 6) Blacklock, William, Gazebo
 * 7) Bocquet, Major Peter, Jr., House
 * 8) Blake, Daniel, Tenements, 2-4 Court House Square
 * 9) Charleston County Court House, NW corner Broad and Meeting Sts.
 * 10) Chisholm, Alexander Robert, House, 6 Montague St.
 * 11) College of Charleston, 66 George St.
 * 12) County Records Building, 100 Meeting St. at Chalmers St.
 * 13) Exchange Building and Custom House, 122-26 East Bay St.
 * 14) Farmers' and Exchange Bank, 141 East Bay St.
 * 15) Gate, 96 Ashley Ave.
 * 16) "Glebe House", 6 Glebe St.
 * 17) Glebe Street Presbyterian Church, 7 Glebe St.
 * 18) Glover, Dr. Joseph, House, 81 Rutledge Ave.
 * 19) Harvey-Lining House and Pharmacy, Broad St. at King St.
 * 20) Hibernian Hall, 105 Meeting St.
 * 21) House ("Pink House"), 17 Chalmers St.
 * 22) House, 74 Rutledge Ave. at Wentworth St.
 * 23) House, 95 Rutledge Ave. T. B. Seabrook House, 95 Rutledge Avenue
 * 24) House, 59 Smith St.

Also significant are the list of buildings included in Hampton Park Terrace Historic District and multiple other buildings listed at National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston, South Carolina.