College of Charleston – Charleston, South Carolina
South Carolina | SC Picture Project | Charleston County Photos | College of Charleston
The College of Charleston was founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785 to “encourage and institute youth in the several branches of liberal education.” Located in the heart of downtown Charleston, today the college is a renowned liberal arts and science school that has successfully retained its historic character while offering students state-of-the-art facilities. The school is the oldest college or university south of Virginia and is the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the country. From 1790 until 1829 the college held classes in barracks that remained after the Revolutionary War. The Main Building, now called Randolph Hall, was designed by architect William Strickland and completed in 1829, giving students an academic building of their own.
Noted Charleston architect E.B. White enlarged the building in 1850 as part of a campus expansion, adding six columns and giving the building the appearance so recognizable by students and alumni today. In front of Randolph Hall stands an old cistern, seen above, which was built in 1857 to help control flooding and fight fires. Eventually this technology became outdated and the cistern was filled in and covered with grass. The Cistern Yard is shaded by live oak trees and is a favorite spot for students to relax and study. It is also the location of the College’s graduation ceremony each May on Mothers’ Day.
As part of the expansion E.B. White also designed and added the Gate Lodge, known as Porter’s Lodge, in 1852. The building complements Randolph Hall in its Roman Revival style and was added for the purpose of housing the college’s caretaker, or porter.
Legend has it that college porter John Cahill remained on campus during the 1865 Union occupation of Charleston during the Civil War and guarded the school by requesting protection from Union Commandant, Colonel Stewart Woodford. The request was honored, and the College of Charleston was spared when so much of the city was destroyed.
Today Porter’s Lodge houses faculty offices. The Greek inscription above the arch facing George Street bears the phrase, Know Thyself.
The college’s first library, pictured above, was built in 1855 out of necessity, as by 1853 the campus was in dire need of a place to store its growing collection of books. The acquisition began in 1770 – the year of the college’s founding – when John McKenzie bequeathed 1,200 volumes to the burgeoning institution. The collection grew but did not amass until Lingard A. Frampton gifted the college with 3,873 books in 1853. As a result, the state and city both contributed towards the funding of a library building.
The library was designed in the Classical Revival style by George E. Walker and also displays Italianate details. The arches in the windows of the stuccoed building are in symphony with the arches of Porter’s Lodge. The building was named for Edward Emerson Towell, an alumnus, former chemistry professor, and Academic Dean of the College of Charleston. Today the building serves as admissions offices.
The Sotille House, as seen above, is a Victorian manse built in 1890 by banker and merchant Samuel Wilson. It is known for its exquisite stained glass windows and intricate woodwork. The Sotille family purchased the home in 1912, and the College of Charleston acquired it in 1964. It has served as student housing and offices; today it is the location of the school’s Division of Institutional Advancement.
Students are always invited to sit on the welcoming porch seen above, which serves as the Lee and Ann Higdon Student Leadership Center. The center is located in an historic Charleston single house built prior to 1817 for Nathaniel Farr and his wife, Katherine. The building is named for former college president Lee Higdon, who served from 2001 through 2006, and his wife, Ann.
Both Randolph Hall (interior, seen above), Porter’s Lodge, and the Library are listed in the National Register as part of the College of Charleston:
The historic campus of the College of Charleston contains three structures, the Main Building, the Library, and Gate Lodge, situated in an attractive setting of evergreen oaks, that achieve a certain degree of unity by means of the prevailing Pompeian red coloring of their stuccoed walls. The Main Building, designed by William Strickland and built in 1828-29, was a simple, rectangular two-story over elevated basement brick structure with a pedimented three bay wide projecting pavilion on the south (main) façade and gable ends on the east and west sides.
In 1850 Edward B. White added large two-story brick and stucco wings to the east and west sides and the present grandiose colossal portico, with six giant Roman Ionic pillars and arcaded basement, to the center of the main façade. In 1930 the west wing was extended to reach College Street. The Gate Lodge, also designed by White and built in 1852, is a rectangular two-story brick and stucco structure in the Roman Revival style. Four giant pillars of the Tuscan order rise to support the pediment that extends across the entire street façade of the structure. The Library, constructed in 1854-56 and designed by George Edward Walker, is a two-story brick structure in the mid-nineteenth century Classical Revival style with Italianate details, quoins, and round-headed windows. Inside, a central reading room rises two stories and is surrounded by a gallery.
College of Charleston Info
Address: 66 George Street, Charleston, SC 29424
College of Charleston Map
College of Charleston Add Info and More Photos
The purpose of the South Carolina Picture Project is to celebrate the beauty of the Palmetto State and create a permanent digital repository for our cultural landmarks and natural landscapes. We invite you to add additional pictures (paintings, photos, etc) of College of Charleston, and we also invite you to add info, history, stories, and travel tips. Together, we hope to build one of the best and most loved SC resources in the world!
You may not use them in any form without written consent.
SCIWAY does not provide contact information for photographers.