Read Building

National Register Listing

Street Address:

593 King Street, Charleston, SC (Charleston County)

Alternate Name:

Bluestein Brothers;Read & Dumas;Read Bros.;The Leader

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817710207

Description and Narrative:

The Read Building is listed in the National Register as an unusually intact example of an early-twentieth-century commercial building in Charleston. The three-story building was constructed for Latvian Jewish immigrant and Moncks Corner merchant Frank Read (1886-1940) and designed by local architectural firm Walker & Burden. Built in 1912 with its interior configuration completed in 1914, the building has remained largely unchanged inside and out, with the remarkable retention of its original two-story mercantile space and the double apartments on the third floor. Featuring a 2/1 Flemish stretcher bond, the building is an example of a two-part commercial block designed in the Commercial style. Through the preservation of most historic features in their original form, such as the floor plan, scale, and most interior and exterior fabric, the Read Building possesses extremely high integrity and individual architectural value within the context of downtown Charleston. Both structurally and aesthetically, the building symbolizes commercial typology and style of the pre-World War I era, strongly representing that era’s local commercial architecture. Listed in the National Register October 11, 2022.

Period of Significance:

1912 – 1914

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Architecture

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

October 11 2022

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