Lewis Inn
National Register Listing
Street Address:
NE of Chester off SC 72 (Chester County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817712003
Description and Narrative:
This fine example of log construction with many original features, built about 1750, is one of very few remaining in South Carolina. The inn was a tavern during Colonial and Revolutionary days, and also a stagecoach stop. It was made famous in 1807 when Aaron Burr, the captured vice president of the United States, slayer of Alexander Hamilton, spent the night there on his way to Richmond for trial on charges of treason. Legend has it that Burr escaped briefly because a bribed maid left his bedroom door unlatched. The inn is a “matched” two-story house of dovetailed logs pinned together and chinked with clay, covered with clapboard, and re-covered with brown shingles in 1923. It has a lateral gable roof, with exterior end chimneys, and a one-story right wing. The matching sections - back is a one-story ell; the other is a front shed-roof porch which extends across the façade to the wing. The interior features tongue and groove paneling, large hand-carved mantels, wide board doors with wrought iron hinges, and a narrow stairway leading to a second floor hallway on which two bedrooms open. Listed in the National Register May 6, 1971.
Period of Significance:
1750;18th century
Level of Significance:
State
Area of Significance:
Social History;Architecture;Politics/Government;Transportation
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
May 6 1971
