80 Broad St. c.1800 -- City Hall. This Adamesque style building was erected in 1800-01 for the Charleston branch of the first Bank of the United States. It stands on the site set aside for a public market in the Grand Modell. The Bee Market, built here just prior to 1739, stood until 1796 when it was destroyed by fire. In 1800 the City Council conveyed this property to the Bank of the U.S. for the purpose of erecting an Elegant Building thereon for a Banking House. The Charleston branch, one of eight in the country, was known as the Office of Discount and Deposit. The branch was located at 100 Church Stree before this building was erected. The design of the building is attributed to Gabriel Manigault (1758-1809 ) gentleman architect. Manigault, who studied in Europe and came home in 1780 with a substantial architectural library, is credited with introducing the Adamesque style to Charleston. An 1800 newspaper account names Edward Magrath and Joseph Nicholson as the architects of the building, and Andrew Gordon as the builder. The term architect was used often interchangeably with builder at the time. Magrath and Nicholson submitted a plan for the South Carolina College competition in 1802: their entry was unsuccessful but commended by the committee. Magrath and Nicholson were usually identified as carpenters. lt is theorized that they did the carpentry, while Gordon, who was a mason, did the brickwork: such division of labor was common. The attribution of the design to Manigault comes from a family history written by his grandsons (whose veracity concerning his other designs has not been questioned). The building is more elaborately decorated than Manigaults other buildings but shares other characteristics with them, especially the semi-circular projection on the north side (originally containing a stair) and the round windows in the basement: both these features are also found on the Joseph Manigault House, which he designed. Tradition says the marble trim was brought, ready-cut, from Philadelphia where it had been imported from Italy, for a house which Lewis Morris planned but never built. Congress declined to regrant the Banks charter in 1811 and it was forced out of business. According to stipulations of the 1800 deed the United States conveyed the property back to the City in 1818 and it has been used as City Hall since then. The interior, which had been a large open room surrounded by a gallery, was converted into two stories in 1839 by the German architect Charles Reichardt (designer of the Charleston Hotel and the Guard House). In 1882 a new roof was put on and the red bricks, laid in Flemish bond, were covered with stucco. The Victorian council chamber was installed during the 1882 remodeling. The chambers walls were refaced with narrow paneling following the 1886 earthquake and the ceiling of polychrome panels was installed around the turn of the century. The room is filled with an important collection of portraits and other paintings. the largest of which is John Trumbulls 1791 portrait of George Washington. The painting Fire Masters of Charleston depicts the City Halls exterior before the stuccoing. Other works include Charles Fraser s miniature of Lafayette, Samuel F.B. Morses portrait of James Monroe, Vanderlyns portrait of Andrew Jackson. (Fraser, 33. Smith & Smith, Dwelling Houses, 259-260. Whitelaw & Levkoff, 42. ; Rogers, Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys, 58, 86. Ravenel, Architects, 61-63, 67-70, 98-103, 180. Mazyck & Waddell, illus. 7, 9. Iseley & Cauthen, 13. Deas, 84-85. Yearbook...1882, 205-209. Stoney, This is Charleston, 14. Deeds, A6-233, B7-317. Debnam, unpub. MS.)
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 16:54:06 +0000
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