Rutledge, Gov. John, House

National Register Listing

Street Address:

116 Broad St., Charleston, SC (Charleston County)

Alternate Name:

Governor John Rutledge House

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817710040

Description and Narrative:

John Rutledge, a signer of the Constitution and wartime Governor of South Carolina, 1779-1782, lived at 116 Broad Street from 1763 to 1800. Rutledge was one of the foremost lawyers in South Carolina. He opposed the Stamp Act and in the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 he was chairman of the committed which wrote the memorial and petition to the House of Lords. He was a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses and helped write the South Carolina Constitution of 1776. Rutledge served as Governor from 1779 until 1782. In 1784 he began his judicial career with election to the chancery court of the state and from 1784-1790 also sat in the state House of Representatives. In 1789 Washington appointed Rutledge Senior Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and he held this office until February 1791, when he resigned to become Chief Justice of South Carolina. Rutledge died in Charleston on July 23, 1800. The house is a large three-story over elevated basement brick house with a slate covered roof, a pair of large brick chimneys set in either side wall, and an elaborate two-story cast and wrought iron porch on the front elevation. The first two stories were built by Rutledge in 1763 and the third floor was added by Thomas M. Gadsden in 1853. Listed in the National Register November 7, 1971; Designated a National Historic Landmark November 7, 1973.

Period of Significance:

1800;1763 – 1800;18th century

Level of Significance:

National

Area of Significance:

Law;Politics/Government

National Register Determination:

National Historic Landmark

Date of Certification:

November 7 1971

Date of Certification as a National Historic Landmark:

November 7 1973

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