Previous: Rice Country
From the South Carolina Department of Archives and History
May 2 ...at the wharf I was met by the Governor, the Lt. Governor, the Intendt. of the City; the tow Senators of the State, Wardens of the City- Cincinnati & ca. & ca and conducted to the Exchange...From thence I was conducted in the like manner to my lodgings...
The house of Thomas Heyward, Jr., at 87 Church in Charleston, now known as the Heyward Washington House, was the lodging Washington spoke to. The house was built ca. 1770 by Daniel Heyward and became the city home of his son, Thomas Heyward, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The city council leased the house and furnishings at the rate of sixty pounds to accommodate the President for a week and also supplied a housekeeper, servants, and a "proper stock of liquors, groceries, and provisions." The three-story brick Georgian house is based on the standard Charleston double house plan with a central hall.
The Charleston Museum operates the house museum, open to the public.
May 2 ...I dined at the Governors (in what I call a private way) with 15 or 18 Gentlemen.
Governor Charles Pinckney's house stood at 16 Meeting Street, where the Calhoun Mansion now stands. The richly-decorated Adam-style brick house with flankers dominated the southern end of the peninsula at least until 1850. A description of the house, made from memory, suggests its appearance in the nineteenth century: "His collection of paintings, statuettes, medals, etc. rendered his house almost a museum. His fine library, occupyied an entire suite of three large rooms- the floors and windows of which were kept richly carpeted and curtained, while the ceilings were decorated with classic representations..." Pinckney's study overlooked a garden, which housed a bald eagle, tow flamingos, and Pinckney's lovely flowers. Pinckney held a ball at the mansion on 5 May to honor Washington. A contemporary recalled, "the whole of the large mansion was thrown open and illuminated by lights of varied color...the garden was arranged as a promenade..."
May 3 Breakfasted with Mrs. Rutledge (the Lady of the Chief Justice of the State who was on the Circuits)...
Tradition says that John Rutledge built the John Rutledge House at 116 Broad Street ca. 1763 for his bride, Elizabeth Grimke, and that the President dined there with Mrs. Rutledge.
The John Rutledge House is a bed and breakfast inn.
May 3 ...dined with the Citizens at a public dinr. given by them at the Exchange.
The Exchange Building, designed by William Rigby Naylor, was built between 1767 and 1771 and served as the colony's Exchange and Custom House. The first floor was originally an arcade in the tradition of European markets, and the front of the building faced the harbor. A mass meeting to protest the British tax on tea was held there on 3 December 1773. British troops used the basement as a prison when they occupied the city during the ensuing Revolutionary War. In 1783, the building was conveyed to the city of Charleston and served as the City Hall.
The Exchange was an appropriate space for entertaining the President. The people of Charleston greeted him there on 2 May; he enjoyed a public dinner there on 3 May; he was honored at "a very elegant dancing Assembly" there on 4 May; and he attended a concert held in his honor there on 5 May. The Charlestonians transformed the interior of the Exchange for these occasions and decorated the hall for the concert "with various ornaments- the pillars were ingenously entwined with laurel, and the following device inscribed in various parts of the Hall: 'With grateful praises of the hero's fame, We'll teach our infants' tongues to lisp his name'" Washington took careful note of the "elegantly dressed and handsome ladies" who attended these functions and wrote of the concert, "there were at least 400 ladies- the Number and appearances of wch. exceeded anything of the kind I had ever seen."
The Exchange Building is located at 122 East Bay Street, and is open to the public.
May 4 Dined with the Members of the Cincinnati...
Edward McCrady's Tavern at 1 Unity Alley off East Bay Street was the scene of the dinner held for Washington by the Society of the Cincinnati. The society held the afternoon dinner in the "long room" on the second floor of the tavern. Many Washington historians said the tavern had been destroyed in the twentieth century, but in 1972, preservationists found it still intact behind some warehouses. It has since been restored. The first floor housed Restaurant Million. The second floor is a private club.
May 5 Visited the Works of Fort Johnson on James's Island...
Fort Johnson stands on a bluff, which commands an excellent view of the city of Charleston, the harbor, and Mount Pleasant. The fort dates to ca. 1711 and was built at the same time the fortifications around the city were constructed. In 1775 and early 1776 in anticipation of hostilities with the British, the colonists fortified the works at Fort Johnson, Haddrell's Point, and Fort Moultrie. Despite their efforts, the British had possession of James Island by 7 March 1779 as they encircled the city. The city of Charleston and the activity in the Charleston Harbor were easy targets from the coastal forts such as Fort Johnson.
Washington visited the fort by boat, crossing the harbor and docking on the fort's narrow beaches. The site of Fort Johnson is open to the public only by special permission; the South Carolina Marine Biology facilities have been constructed on the site, which is at the end of Fort Johnson Road on James Island.
May 5 ...and Fort Moultree on Sullivan's Island...
Washington also visited Fort Moultrie by boat. Originally called Fort Sullivan, it was the scene on 28 June 1776 of the first bloodshed of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina. That day, a British fleet under the command of Sir Henry Clinton attacked the fort from the sea. Col. William Moultrie and 344 regulars held the for against the British fleet and turned it away. Fort Moultrie defended the surrounding countryside for four years of the war before it finally fell to the British on 6 May 1780. Fort Moultrie is open to the public.
May 7 Before break[fast] I visited the Orphan House...
The first Orphan House was "a commodious building...provided by Mr. Elizabeth Pinckney, in Ellory Street, now Market Street." It housed the children until 1794 when the Charleston Orphan House opened.
Washington wrote that 107 children lived at the home in 1791. The commissioners of the Orphan House escorted Washington into the breakfast room "where the children waited in their proper places" to meet him. When he left the orphans, he "pathetically pronounced his benediction on them" and went on to partake of a "genteel breakfast" in the commissioners' room. (No longer in existence.)
May 7 I also viewed the City from the balcony of [St. Michael's] Church...
St. Michael's Episcopal Church stands at 80 Meeting Street, on the southeastern corner of Meeting and Broad Streets. Begun in 1752 and completed in 1761, it stands on the site of the first St. Phillip's Church, a cypress church built in 1681 and torn down in 1727. The first services were held in St. Michael's sanctuary on 1 Feb. 1761. St. Michael's steeple has traditionally been a point from which to survey the Charleston scene. The steeple is 186 feet high and was used as an observation post during the Revolutionary War and as a fire lookout and alarm tower until the late-nineteenth century. Washington commented that one could see Charleston "in one view and to advantage" from the steeple.
St. Michael's Church is open to the public, thought the view from the steeple is reserved for special occasions. The pew used by George Washington when he attended services there on 8 May 1791 has been preserved and marked.
May 8 Went to crowded Churches in the Morning & afternoon- to [St. Phillips] in the Morning & [St. Michael's] in the Afternoon.
St. Phillip's Episcopal Church, located at 146 Church Street, is the third church building to house the congregation. The church was organized in 1680 and is Charleston's oldest Episcopal congregation. George Washington attended church in the second sanctuary, which was built on this site and completed in 1723. The second building burned to the ground in 1835 and the present sanctuary replaced it in 1838. The structure now looks similar to the church visited by Washington, though the columns on the portico are of a different order. The church is open to the public.
Next: Points South
Previous: Rice Country
From the South Carolina Department of Archives and History