Earle Town House
National Register Listing
Street Address:
107 James St., Greenville, SC (Greenville County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817723001
Description and Narrative:
The Earle Town House is an architectural, historical, and aesthetic asset. An architecturally distinguished example of a late Georgian dwelling, one of the few extant in upper South Carolina, the residence is one of two houses within Greenville remaining from the city’s earliest history. Its park-like grounds, shaded by old trees and enclosed by an ivy-covered grillwork fence, feature the sanded front walk typical of its earlier years, a handsome garden front entrance of grillwork and brick, and an ivy mound approximately 100 years old (built after 1856). A rear garden with fountain is patterned after Edgar Allen Poe’s Richmond, Virginia garden. That the home now known as the Earle Town House was built at least by 1810 is indicated by the 1910 birthday celebration marking its 100th anniversary. Outstanding features include distinctive wood and glass detailing surrounding the front door, double front steps, a Palladian window on the second story, hand carved mantels, six paneled doors, and raised paneled dado. The Earle House site was originally part of the plantation of the pioneer Earle family. The family came from Virginia shortly after the Revolution and settled in this wooded, Blue Ridge foothills section. Elias T. Earle, whose father was an early member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, was one of the first members of the family in South Carolina, figuring prominently in the history and development of the Greenville area and of the state. He was a state senator from Greenville District, a U.S. Congressman, a silk grower, a manufacturer, and first Commissioner of Indian Affairs under the U.S. government. Also born in the house was another leading figure, Judge and U.S. Senator Joseph Haynsworth Earle, great grandson of Elias T. Listed in the National Register August 5, 1969.
Period of Significance:
1810
Level of Significance:
State
Area of Significance:
Landscape Architecture;Industry;Politics/Government;Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
August 5 1969
