Charleston Orphan House

Charleston Orphan House, the first public orphanage in the United States, was an orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina from 1790 to 1951.

History

The Charleston Orphan House was established in 1790 by the city council as the first municipal orphanage in the United States.[1] The orphanage primarily served poor white children and also formed one of South Carolina's earliest educational systems.

In 1791, President George Washington would lay its cornerstone on the Boundary Street, which is now present day Calhoun Street. The site also occupied at one point Revolutionary-War-Era barracks. The council rented a house on Market Street from 1790 until construction on the orphan house building was complete in 1794.[2] The orphanage was within Calhoun (Boundary), King, Vanderhorst, and St. Phillips Streets.[3]

Before the Orphan House was established, St. Phillip's and St. Michael's parishes provided for destitute children. They ordered men who abandoned their families to pay child support and paid women to care for young children who did not have families. When Charleston was incorporated in 1783, the city had to take on the burden of caring for these children. The city hoped establishing an orphanage as a centralized site of care would save on expenses.[3]

By 1861, the Orphan House was staffed by 39 employees who cared for 360 children.[2] Residents of the Orphan House were often poor white children with living parents who could not afford to care for them. Orphan House children typically received a few years of school before being hired out as apprentices, farmers, or domestic servants.[3]

Closing of "The Orphan House"

In 1948, the Orphan House was under criticism by the Child Welfare League of America and Charleston City Council begins to question its operations. Two years later in 1951, the commissioners of the Orphan House bought roughly 37 acres of a new site called Oak Grove Plantation in North Charleston.[4] In 1956, the Orphan House building at St. Phillip and Coming streets is torn down to construct a Sears. Twenty-two years later, the Orphan House cease operations officially in 1978. Currently, the agency now identifies as the Carolina Youth Development Center, which still operates and serves through outreach programs.[5]

Architecture

Gentleman architect Gabriel Manigault designed the orphan house's chapel in 1802.[1] Architects Jones and Lee remodeled and enlarged the building in the 1850s.[4] The building was demolished in 1956 to build a Sears Department Store and later the College of Charleston's Joe E. Berry dormitory.[4]

Notable alumni

Louisa Swain, Andrew Buist Murray and Christopher Memminger[1]

References
  1. "Charleston Orphan House". Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  2. Murray, John E., 1959-. The Charleston Orphan House : children's lives in the first public orphanage in America. ISBN 978-0-226-92409-0. OCLC 783150297.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Jones, Newton, B. (1961). "The Charleston Orphan House: 1860-1876". The South Carolina Historical Magazine. 62 (4): 203–214. JSTOR 27566370.
  4. "Brief history of Orphan House". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  5. "Brief history of Orphan House". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-11-25.


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