Mount Hope

National Register Listing

Street Address:

SC 34, Ridgeway, SC (Fairfield County)

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817720027

Description and Narrative:

Mount Hope is significant as a relatively intact example of nineteenth century vernacular architecture in Fairfield County and for its association with Dr. John Peyre Thomas, a prominent physician and amateur scientist. Dr.Thomas reportedly ordered the construction of Mount Hope in 1836 for $1,025 by a Mr. Killian, along with the construction of a kiln for making brick and tiles for the basement floor. Thomas graduated from South Carolina College, completed a medical degree in New York, and obtained one of the earliest medical licenses in South Carolina. His “Diary of Weather and Occurrences” provided one of the earliest meteorological chronicles for interior South Carolina. Mount Hope is a one-and-one-half story, weatherboarded, frame residence on a raised basement. Three pedimented dormers with nine-over-nine windows pierce each slope of the gabled roof. Front and rear elevations have porches supported by 8-foot high masonry piers. The front porch features flush wall boards with a chair rail, a plain balustrade, pilasters, and six cedar columns. The rear elevation features two shed rooms which flank the porch, which has been screened. Side elevations display twin double-shouldered chimneys laid in Flemish bond. Outbuildings include a ca. 1850 frame smokehouse and a ca. 1875 tenant house. Listed in the National Register December 6, 1984.

Period of Significance:

1836

Level of Significance:

State

Area of Significance:

Architecture

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

December 6 1984

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