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Photo, Print, Drawing William Blacklock House, 18 Bull Street, Charleston, Charleston County, SC

[ Photos from Survey HABS SC-109  ]

More Resources

[ Drawings from Survey HABS SC-109  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS SC-109  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS SC-109  ]

About this Item

Title

  • William Blacklock House, 18 Bull Street, Charleston, Charleston County, SC

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Blacklock, William
  • Drayton, William
  • Manigault, Gabriel
  • Adams, Robert
  • Jahnz, E H
  • Hunter, E Des Brosses
  • Harrelson, Maxcy
  • Jenrette, Richard H
  • College of Charleston Foundation
  • Schara, Mark, program coordinator
  • Leifeste, Amalia, faculty sponsor
  • Ford, Frances, faculty sponsor
  • Ward, James L., faculty sponsor
  • Greene, C. O., photographer
  • Schwartz, Louis I., photographer
  • Burnett, James L., Jr., historian
  • Ravenel, Beatrice St. J., historian
  • McKee, Harley J., historian
  • Altizer, Kendanne, field team
  • Argue, Kavan, field team
  • Crimmins, Julia, field team
  • Heider, Valerie J. M., field team
  • Kendrick, Pamela, field team
  • Kerlin, Lia Farina, field team
  • Funk, Megan, field team
  • Herrick, Kelly, field team
  • Lanois, Lindsay, field team
  • Lee, Lindsay, field team
  • McKee, Brittany, field team
  • Morton, Erin, field team
  • Roach, Melissa, field team
  • Schoberth, Leigh, field team
  • Schultheis, Katherine M. C., field team
  • Shaw, Liz, field team
  • Smith, Will, field team
  • Bayless, Charles N., photographer
  • National Endowment for the Arts, sponsor
  • Clemson University/College of Charleston, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, sponsor

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  houses
  • -  outbuildings
  • -  double houses
  • -  domestic life
  • -  pavilions (building divisions)
  • -  South Carolina--Charleston County--Charleston

Latitude / Longitude

  • 32.783279,-79.939486

Notes

  • -  For additional documentation, see also HALS SC-14 (William Blacklock House)
  • -  2014 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Honorable Mention
  • -  Significance: Built in 1800 for William Blacklock, the Blacklock House at 18 Bull Street, Charleston, South Carolina is one of the most important Adamesque houses in the United States. William Blacklock was one of the city's wealthiest British Merchants and member of Charleston's Brank Bank of the United States. The William Blacklock House was one of the first permanent residences constructed in the Harleston Village and represents what was then a suburban retreat. Harleston Village, as the neighborhood was known by the end of the eighteenth century, is located on land north west of the original settlement of Charles Town. Property north of the old city was relatively distant from the bustle of downtown, offering residents a more secluded context than is suggested by the density surrounding the house today. At the time of its construction the house was considered one of the most elegant in the city. The architect of the Blacklock House remains unknown, though it is speculated that it may have been designed by a gentleman architect such as William Drayton or Gabriel Manigault. Manigault is regarded as Charleston's best known gentleman architect and designer of the Branch Bank of the United States, today's City Hall, for which Blacklock was on the building committee. Similar to the Blacklock House the Branch Bank building features refined Federal. Designed in Palladian proportions, and exemplary of the high-style Federal aesthetic, the structure is symmetrical in plan and elevation. A five bay Charleston double house, the Blacklock House stands at two-and-a-half stories with a high English basement accentuated by a projecting water table. Architecturally, the house is distinguished by a pedimented pavilion with a stoop and double staircase leading to the main entrance at the elevated first floor on the street-facing south façade. The entablature under the landing includes a frieze with rosette motif adapted by English interior designer Robert Adam from the Roman Doric order. The architrave to the front door exemplifies popular mouldings characteristic of the Federal style and popularized by Adam, including swags, dentils, and block modillions. The north facade is characterized by a Palladian window centered within the façade, above the half landing of the interior staircase. On the north side of the house is a porch attaching the recently installed free-standing elevator tower to the main floor of the building, and overlooking the back garden and Gothic Revival outbuildings which share the Blacklock site. The interior, with a central hall plan that maintains symmetry, further exhibits the Federal style. The cornices, wainscoting, mantels, and window and door architraves are all exemplary of the high-style mannerisms of the era's architecture. The mantels and surrounds feature intricate motifs including egg and dart, bead and reel, and dentils, decorated with composite mouldings of swags, cherubs, vases, and fluttering ribbons. Accentuated by delicate gouge work, the chair rails, cornices, and architraves are elaborately crafted. In 1973, the Blacklock House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a National Historic Landmark, primarily due to its architectural significance. In the architectural survey of Charleston, a jury noted the house was of the highest architectural design quality, well proportioned, and architecturally sophisticated.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2026
  • -  Survey number: HABS SC-109
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1800 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: after. 1970- before. 1979 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 2008 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 73001681

Medium

  • Photo(s): 44
  • Measured Drawing(s): 12
  • Data Page(s): 17
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 3

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS SC,10-CHAR,130-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • sc0058

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS SC,10-CHAR,130-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
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      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, William Blacklock, William Drayton, Gabriel Manigault, Robert Adams, E H Jahnz, E Des Brosses Hunter, et al., Greene, C. O, Louis I Schwartz, and Charles N Bayless, photographer. William Blacklock House, 18 Bull Street, Charleston, Charleston County, SC. Charleston County Charleston South Carolina, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sc0058/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Blacklock, W., Drayton, W., Manigault, G., Adams, R., Jahnz, E. H. [...] Clemson University/College Of Charleston, G. P. I. H. P., Greene, C. O., Schwartz, L. I. & Bayless, C. N., photographer. (1933) William Blacklock House, 18 Bull Street, Charleston, Charleston County, SC. Charleston County Charleston South Carolina, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sc0058/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Greene, C. O, Louis I Schwartz, and Charles N Bayless. William Blacklock House, 18 Bull Street, Charleston, Charleston County, SC. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/sc0058/>.