No. 125 Pitt Street, c. 1895-1900Mount Pleasant, SC

No. 125 Pitt Street was most likely constructed c.1895-1900 as either a place of business for widow and seam-stress Eliza L. Owens (1842-1929), or as a small grocery. The building was originally constructed as three-bay wide, single-story rectangular structure. A single-bay, full-length addition was added to the south side as early as 1912, and a recessed, single-bay addition was added to the north side between 1939 and 1949. The infrastructure for the building’s original large storefront windows, front door with transom and small, square fenestration at the side elevations are intact. The large storefront windows and small, elevated side fenestration (which allowed for shelf space inside), as well as the high ceiling and exterior parapet, are representative of groceries at this time and survive at No. 121 Pitt Street, which was constructed between 1893 and 1912 as a grocery. (Figure 1)

After 1959, the front windows and primary entry were diminished and side fenestration covered by an exterior brick veneer. By the 1980s, the building was renovated into a residential rental property but was converted back to commercial by the mid 1990s.

Figure 1: (left) east (primary) elevation of No. 125 Pitt Street. A similar parapet is present on No. 121 Pitt Street; (center) interior looking northwest from primary entry. Original windows present within infrastructure; (right) original infrastructure of large storefront windows and entry transom intact, now in-filled with brick and plywood. Photos taken by BVL HPR.

HISTORIC TIMELINE:

1883: Eliza L. Thomlinson Owens (1842-1929) bought the land now occupied by No. 123-125 Pitt Street (mea-suring 200’ x 52’) from Mary C. Thomlinson for $150.1 At the time of her purchase, the property was empty. Owens and Thomlinson were most likely related, as historic records confirm that Owens had a younger sister and sister-in-law named Mary Thomlinson.2

Owens, age 41 at the time of her purchase and a native of downtown Charleston, was recorded as resid-

ing in Mount Pleasant as early as 1880 with her husband James B. Owens (1835-1895, a bookkeeper who, according to Columbia’s State, “surrendered with Lee at Appomattox” during the Civil War) and Ellen Marshall, their family cook. 3 Owens and her husband most likely pur-chased the property as an investment.4

By this time, Pitt Street between Morrison and Venning Streets had not yet been established as a main commercial thoroughfare. This is evidenced by an 1893 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, which depicts only two small stores in this area of Pitt Street and most of the land within today’s busi-ness district void of structures, including the land now occu-pied by No. 125 Pitt Street (Figure 2).

1895: At his death, James B. Owens was described as having “sev-eral positions of prominence in local commercial circles,” further suggesting that he and Owens purchased the empty property as an investment.5

No. 123-125 Pitt Street was most likely constructed by Owens after the death of her husband.

1900: The 1900 U.S. Federal Census recorded widow and dressmaker “Eliza L. Owens” as residing at and owning “156 Pitt Street,” which was listed a few doors below Venning Street.6 As the land now occupied by No. 123-125 Pitt Street was the only property Owens purchased in her lifetime, this confirms that a dwelling existed on Owen’s Pitt Street property by this time. Furthermore, many architectural elements of No. 123 Pitt Street indicate a late nineteenth, early twentieth century construction date. The dwelling’s size, symmetry, dual front gables, originally full-width, one-story porch and the porch’s thin columns are representative of the Folk Victorian architectural style, popular in the United States between the 1880s and 1900s.

Owens is also listed with five other relatives, two of whom were recorded as seamstresses. As a widow and dressmaker, it is possible that Owens operated a dressmaking business, constructing a small wooden structure on her property adjacent to her dwelling on the main street to house her service. It is also possi-ble, however, that Owens constructed the small wooden building as a rental property for a local grocer, as both the size and fenestration are identical to that of No. 121 Pitt Street, denoted in 1912 as a vegetable

1 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book B20, Page 87, Charleston, SC.2 “Joseph Thomlinson,” 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC; Joseph Thomlinson and Annie Lawrence were the parents of Eliza L. Thomlinson Owens; “Robert Thomlinson,” 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC; According to the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Robert was Eliza’s brother.3 “Mrs. John Moroso Died Last Night,” 1926 December 14, State, Columbia, SC.4 1880 US Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC.5 “Mr. Owens Dead,” 1895 December 12, Evening Post, Charleston, SC.6 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC.

Figure 2: 1893 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Mount Pleasant; the property of No. 123-125 Pitt Street is highlighted.

store. Similar features include the small, rectangular footprint, large storefront windows and small square side fenestration now covered by the brick veneer.

1910: Owens, in her sixties, moved to Middle Street, most likely closing her business on Pitt Street.7

1912: The building first appears on a map of the area and is record-ed as a vacant one-story, wooden store with an east addition occupied by a cobbler (Figure 3).

1925: Owens sold No. 123-125 Pitt Street to Sarah Elma Coward McKnight (1901-1933) for $2,100.8 The property was one of five properties McKnight and her husband purchased that year, three of which were located in Old Village. No. 123-125 Pitt Street, as well as the other Old Village properties, were purchased with money made from an illegal moonshine empire created by McKnight’s husband and brother-in-law.

At the time of her purchase, McKnight was residing on a farm in Moncks Corner with her husband James “Sammie” Samuel McKnight (1891-1926).9 With his brother Glennie, Sammie was a successful corn farmer, lumber merchant and nationally-known moonshiner during the Prohibition era. According to the Charleston Daily Mail at this time, “McKnights corn’ was known far and wide,” which led to Sammie’s frequent arrests throughout the 1920s.10 For example, in 1921 the United States government confiscated his motorboat “ELMA,” named for his wife, and arrested him for the illegal transportation of significant amounts of corn whiskey.11 Sam-mie and his brother have often been linked to Al Capone, as many secondary resources claim Capone’s illegal whiskey imports into Chicago were “McKnight corn” from Hell Hole Swamp.12

According to former mayor of Mount Pleasant Francis Ferguson Coleman in an interview with the Charleston Magazine in 1985, “in the 1920s and 30s, Mount Pleasant was strictly a farming community” with scattered grocery stores. It is likely that McKnight and her husband used real estate as a safe way to invest and secure their illegal funds, purchasing No. 123-125 Pitt Street strictly as rental property.13 It is also possible, however, that McKnight used No. 125 Pitt Street as a store, as many of his business partners in Hell Hole Swamp operated “mercantile stores” elsewhere.14

1926: Sammie was murdered during a gunfight in Moncks Corner.15 The News & Courier reported that the shoot-ing resulted from “a raid by prohibition officers…in the Hell-Hole Swamp section of Berkeley County” where ten stills, 10,000 gallons of beer and 1,800 gallons of corn whiskey “were destroyed.” The area quickly became known as “Bloody Berkeley” nationwide, as Sammie’s murder was one of many that year

7 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC.8 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book U32, Page 510, Charleston, SC.9 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC.10 “Hell Hole - Moonshine and Sunlight,” 1930 February 16, Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, SC; “Held on Whiskey Charge,” 1921 October 22, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.11 “United States Marshal’s Sale,” 1921 June 4, Evening Post, Charleston, SC.12 Parker, Katherine G., “Shining in the Tar Woods: An Examination of Illicit Liquor Distillation Sites in the Francis Marion National Forest,” unpublished paper, Society for Historical Archaeology Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, 2018 January, New Orleans, LA; Miles, Suzannah Smith, “Moonshine Over Hell Hole Swamp,” 2015 December, Charleston Magazine, Charleston, SC.13 Coskrey, Bob, “The Village,” 1985 August 28, Charleston Magazine, Charleston, SC.14 Miles, Suzannah Smith, “Moonshine Over Hell Hole Swamp,” 2015 December, Charleston Magazine, Charleston, SC.15 “Two Killed, One Wounded in Gun Fight,” 1926 May 9, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.

Figure 3: 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Mount Pleasant; the property of No. 123-125 Pitt Street is highlighted.

related to bootlegging in and around Moncks Corner.16

No. 125 Pitt Street continued to be used as a rental property.

1933: McKnight remarried to Aldrin Q. Murden and sold No. 123-125 Pitt Street to downtown resident Erna Louise Fischer Heffron (1895-1954) for $200.17

Heffron owned many pieces of land throughout Charleston and also most likely used No. 125 Pitt Street as a rental. During her ownership of the property, she resided on Rutledge Avenue downtown.18

1936: Heffron sold No. 123-125 Pitt Street to William Samuel Royall (1904-1990) and his sister Nan V. Royall for $2,000 (Figure 4).19 At this time, Royall also possessed the land now occupied by the Pitt Street Pharmacy. Royall ultimately sold this land in 1938 to Dr. W.H. Zeigler, who constructed the current structure.

At this purchase, the News & Courier announced that Royall planned to live at No. 123 Pitt Street, stating that he “bought the old Owens house on Pitt Street and with his sister, Miss Claudia Royall,” both of whom would “begin residence.”20 The next day, the Evening Post also reported that Royall “bought the house on Pitt Street for-merly owned by the late Mrs. Eliza Owens.”21

No. 125 Pitt Street was most likely opened as a gift shop by Royall’s sister Claudia Sanders Royall (1895-1948), who was recorded in public records prior to the purchase as a “gift shop operator.”22 It is under the Royall’s ownership that the north recessed addition was constructed.

1938: The building is recorded as a one-story store known as “95 Pitt Street” (Figure 5).

1941: Royall subdivided the large property and sold No. 125 Pitt Street to gift shop owner Carrie M. Donaldson.23 This is the first time No. 125 Pitt Street was sold separately.

That year, Donaldson won a Mount Pleasant Garden Club award for “the Gift Shop and tea room.”24

1943: Donaldson sold No. 125 Pitt Street back to Claudia Royall for $2,200.25

1945: The Evening Post described the opening of a new gift shop on Pitt Street, most likely Claudia Royall’s at No. 125 Pitt Street:

16 “Another Man Dies in Berkeley Case,” 1926 May 10, Columbia Record, Columbia, SC.17 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book U36, Page 241, Charleston, SC.18 1934 City Directory, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC.19 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book F39, Page 721, Charleston, SC.20 “Mount Pleasant Community News,” 1936 October 18, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.21 “Mount Pleasant Social Events,” 19 October 1936, Evening Post, Charleston, SC.22 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC.23 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book S41, Page 613, Charleston, SC.24 “Mount Pleasant Garden Club Ends Season,” 1941 June 13, News & Courier, Charleston, SC; “Mt. Pleasant Study Club,” 1942 December 21, Evening Post, Charleston, SC.25 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book P44, Page 89, Charleston, SC.

Figure 4: 1936 photo-graph of Royall in the Evening Post

Figure 5: 1938 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Mount Pleasant; the property of No. 123-125 Pitt Street is highlighted.

In spite of the war the village is taking on quite a spruced up appearance, with new buildings and fresh paint, and other improvements… An empty store on Pitt Street is being redecorated and will be used as another gift shop.26

1948: In July, the News & Courier confirmed that “Miss Claudia Royall has closed her gift shop in Pitt street and rented the building.”27 Claudia Royall died a few months later. Her death certificate also noted her as an “owner of a gift shop” in Mount Pleasant.28

1949: A plat completed for No. 125 Pitt Street confirms that the building’s possessed its current footprint (Figure 6).

The administrators of Claudia Royall’s estate sold No. 125 Pitt Street to Burness M. Coleman, who used the property as both a rental and antique store.29 Sarah Burness Montgom-ery Coleman (1907-2005) was the wife Francis Ferguson Coleman, who at the time of her purchase was mayor of Mount Pleasant.

A June article in the News and Courier confirmed that “the Bullwinkle Bakery of Charleston opened a branch store” at No. 125 Pitt Street, “recently operated as a gift shop.” The building was described as “owned by the late Miss Claudia Royall” and “recently acquired by Mayor Francis F. Cole-man.”30

The Bullwinkle (sometimes spelled “Bullwinkel”) Bakery was established downtown on Rutledge Avenue as early as 1924.31 The Mount Pleasant branch was run by Mrs. Joseph Lucas.32

1952: The News and Courier announced the opening of the Village Shop at No. 125 Pitt Street, which was “contributing to Mount Pleasant’s expanding business dis-trict.”33 The article confirmed that the store was owned and operated by Mount Pleasant native Mrs. Ruby Herzog Schweers (1910-1996), wife of former mayor pro tem John C. Schweers, and carried “name brand merchandise of juniors’, misses’, and women’s apparel” (Figure 7). The shop was described as air-condi-tioned, “decorated around a color scheme of blue-green and white” with fixtures of “limed oak,” a main sales room of 12’x19’, two dressing rooms, a lounge and an area for alterations.

1955: Schweers continued to operate The Village Shop at No. 125 Pitt Street (Figure

8).34

1957: Schweers continued to operate The Village Shop at No. 125 Pitt Street (Figure 9).35

26 “Mount Pleasant Items of Interest,” 1945 February 20, Evening Post, Charleston, SC.27 “Mount Pleasant Community News,” 1948 July 12, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.28 “Claudia S. Royall,” 1948 December 18, Standard Certificate of Death, South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1965, Charles-ton County Public Library, Charleston, SC.29 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book Q50, Page 493, Charleston, SC.30 “Mount Pleasant Community News,” 1949 June 5, News and Courier, Charleston, SC.31 “Bullwinkel’s Whipped Cream,” 2014 December 2, News and Courier, Charleston, SC.32 “Mount Pleasant Community News,” 1949 June 5, News and Courier, Charleston, SC.33 “Mount Pleasant Adds Dress Shop to List of Businesses,” 1952 August 13, News and Courier, Charleston, SC.34 1955 City Directory, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC35 Ad, 24 December 1957, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.

Figure 6: 1949 plat of No. 125 Pitt Street (Deed Book Q50, Page 493, Charleston County Register of Deeds)

Figure 7: Advertisement in 1969 New & Courier for Condon’s Department Store

1959: A photograph taken after 1959, as evidenced by the c. 1959 Oldsmobile pictured at the fore-ground, depicts No. 125 Pitt Street before the brick veneer was added (Figure 10).

1961: In addition to The Village Shop, the building also served as the branch office for Milburn’s (also spelled Milbren) Laundry and Dry Clean-ers, which Mount Pleasant native Roxanne Sas-sard Bernard (b 1952) recalled occupying the south side of the building.36

The Village Shop closed shortly thereafter.37

1964: No. 125 Pitt Street was occupied by the Trea-sure Chest, which specialized in the sale of “items old & new, handled on consignment.”38

36 1961 City Directory, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC; phone interview with Roxanne Sassard Bernard, conducted by author, 6 June 2019.37 “Sandpiper Hall of Fame Means a lot to its Residents,” 1993 May 13, Post & Courier, Charleston, SC.38 Ad, 1964 April 29, News & Courier, Charleston, SC

Figure 8: 1955 June 5, News & Courier

Figure 9: 1957 photograph of Coleman Boulevard; a Village Shop billboard is present on the right (from the col-lection of South Carolina Department of Transportation)

Figure 10: a photograph taken after 1959 of Pitt Street; No. 125 Pitt Street is pictured on the left (Images of America: Mount Pleasant: The Victorian Village)

1965: The building was occupied by the Treasure Chest, which advertised bargain furniture, china, glassware, paintings, books, ceramics and “handmade gift items.”39 The Treasure Chest went out of business by the end of the year.40

1968: No. 125 Pitt Street was occupied by Independent Engineering Co, Inc., which was owned and operated by long-time Mount Pleasant councilman William R. Hightower with his wife Lucille.41

1969: Coleman sold No. 125 Pitt Street to Beverly Beach Rice (1928-2004) for $7,000 and an assumed mort-

gage, ending a twenty-year ownership of the property.42

Three years before purchasing No. 125 Pitt Street, Rice served as the only female repub-lican candidate for the State House of Representatives from Charleston County (Figure 11). In a 1966 News and Courier article that described her as “a situation comedy” who could “write, produce and star in an East Cooper version of ‘I Love Lucy,”43 reporters questioned her ability to raise her children while running for the position and described her campaign manager’s wish for her to “be a nice lady” and “act ladylike” during the election process. Her response was as follows:

To tell the truth, I really don’t think I would be being honest to the voters if I represented myself as being other than I really am. I think its far better for me to say, ‘Here I am.’ This is the way I am. This is what I believe in. If you like me, then please vote for me. If you don’t, well, I’m sorry, but I can’t change.

Rice was the daughter of MUSC doctor Milner Beach.44 She married E. Carew Rice, Jr., son of famous South Carolina artist and owner of Brickhouse Plantation E. Carew Rice.

1973: The Rice Patch Antiques was owned and operated by Rice at No. 125 Pitt Street.45

1975: Paul N. Gidlund bought No. 125 Pitt Street for $17,450 from Rice and most likely transformed No. 125 Pitt Street into a residential rental property.46 It is also at this time that Gidlund most likely added the brick veneer.

1979: No. 125 Pitt Street was advertised for sale as “a studio or small shop and residence” with a “unique en-trance to both.” It was described as containing “3BR, 2 full baths, family room with fireplace and a large fenced yard.”47

Michael and Winnifred Rotunno bought No. 125 Pitt Street for $64,748.48

1981: Winnifred L. Rotunno took full ownership of No. 125 Pitt Street for $10,905 from Michael Rotunno. The conveyance included “all fixtures, drapes, refrigerator, range, washer, dryer, all planters on patio and Franklin stove.49

39 Ad, 1965 March 22, News & Courier, Charleston, SC40 Ad, 1965 November 12, News & Courier, Charleston, SC41 1968 City Directory, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC; “Mayor Darby,” 1972 August 17, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.42 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book B92, Page 23, Charleston, SC.43 “She Flipped Over Politics,” 1966 November 6, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.44 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC45 1973 City Directory, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC46 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book Z105, Page 219, Charleston, SC.47 “Open House,” 1979 July 8, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.48 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book F119, Page 6, Charleston, SC.49 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book P126, Page 57, Charleston, SC.

Figure 11: Rice’s running announcement, November 8, 1966, News & Courier

Immediately after her purchase, Robert W. and Janet M. Riggs bought No. 125 Pitt Street for $73,600.50

The “Old Village Shoppe,” specializing in “old furniture, antiques and collectibles” opened at No. 125 Pitt Street.51

1982: No. 125 Pitt Street was occupied by the Old Village Shoppe.52

1983: Janet M. Riggs sold No. 125 Pitt Street to Robert W. Riggs.53 The conveyance included the “refrigerator and window air conditioner.”

1986: A plat depicts the building’s footprint (Figure 12).54 1989: No. 125 Pitt Street was advertised for sale as a “charming brick

residence.”55

1991: No. 125 Pitt Street was described as a “3BR, 2 ½ baths, quaint cottage in the heart of Old Village.”56

1990s: From 1994 to 1997, the building was rented by architect Tommy Smith, who conducted a significant renovation of the building. According to an oral history with Smith, the building contained “a couple of bedrooms, a central living room, drop ceiling, fake brick on some of the walls and a wood stove” before the renova-tion. Smith gutted and stripped the building down to the original wooden infrastructure and constructed additional walls to create conference rooms and a rear kitchen.57

According to an oral history with Mount Pleasant resident Becky Mitchell, No. 125 Pitt Street was occu-pied by three offices in the late 1990s: Crosby Insurance Group, photo studio of Tommy Ford and Village Mortgage.58

2005: The Village Bakery opened at No. 125 Pitt Street and occupied the structure until 2018.59

2018: TCK 125, LLC acquired No. 125 Pitt Street for $5.60

NOTES: - Charleston County tax records indicate a construction date of 1980.- The Town of Mount Pleasant has no building permits on record for No. 125 Pitt Street.- The Town of Mount Pleasant has no city directories prior to the 1940s.- Repositories consulted:

50 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book P126, Page 58, Charleston, SC.51 Advertisement, 1981 November 14, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.52 Advertisement, 1982 January 16, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.53 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book O131, Page 358, Charleston, SC.54 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book T152, Page 846, Charleston, SC.55 “Old Village,” 1989 June 23, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.56 “Open House,” 1991 February 24, News & Courier, Charleston, SC.57 Phone interview with Tommy Smith, conducted by author, 10 June 2019.58 Phone interview Becky Mitchell, conducted by author, 3 June 2019.59 “Folly site seeks restaurant, retail tenants,” 2005 May 9, Post & Courier, Charleston, SC.60 Charleston County Register of Deeds, Deed Book 0769, Page 944, Charleston, SC.

Figure 12: 1986 plat of No. 125 Pitt Street (Deed Book T152, page 846, Charleston County Register of Deeds)

o Historic Charleston Foundationo the Charleston Museumo the South Carolina Historical Society,o the South Carolina Room at the Charleston County Public Libraryo South Carolina Department of Archives and History o Charleston County Register of Deeds

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