Memorial Hall
Historic Property
Alternate Name:
Unknown
Street Address:
900 King St., Charleston, SC (Charleston County)
Site Number:
0075.25
Control Number:
U/19/0075.25
Tax Number:
4631601001
Date Surveyed:
April 16 2003
Category:
Building
Construction Date:
1889
Historic Use:
Social
Current Use:
Social
Historic Core Shape:
Rectangular
Architect or Builder:
Howe, W.B.W. (architect), Grant, Colin P. (contractor), McArrel, Robert (mason)
Number of Stories:
2
Construction Method:
masonry
Exterior Walls Materials:
Brick
Foundation Materials:
Brick
Roof Shape:
gable, end to front
Roof Materials:
composition shingle
National Register Determination:
listed;
Signficant Architectural Features:
Memorial Hall, the center of the site, was constructed as a memorial to William Enston. On the north side of the building is a gabled front projection with a 3-story tower with a lower cornice and a flared pyramidal shingle metal roof in the gable crook. It is also decorated with parapeted gables with concrete coping, ends and cross finial; concrete bracing flowers across gable end. The tower has a round third story windows with concrete surrounds, and round ribbon second story windows with concrete round arch surrounds, and stepped lower windows with concrete lintels. The main upper windows are five vertical, leaded, stained glass windows with round arch concrete lintels and a concrete sill. The building also has a Syrian arch porch opening; round arch concrete lintels over side, and rear 1/1 windows
Alterations:
Roofs replaced in 1989, per NRHP nomination
Historical Information:
Built by the city of Charleston as the center of the Enston Home Complex. The building was designed to be a library, chapel, and auditorium. William Enston died in 1859 and left money in his estate to establish a home for the elderly based on examples in his native Canterbury. Architect W.B.W. Howe designed Picturesque rows and Romanesque buildings. The complex also had a sewage system designed by Rudolph Hering. Contractor Colin P. Grant and mason Robert McArrel oversaw construction.
Source of Historical Information:
The William Enston NRHP nomination
Quadrangle Name:
Charleston