Gov. William Aiken House

The Gov. William Aiken House (also known as the Aiken-Rhett House, or the Robinson-Aiken House) was built in 1820 at 48 Elizabeth Street, in the Wraggborough neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina.[2] Despite being known for its association with Gov. William Aiken, the house was built by John Robinson after he bought several lots in Mazyck-Wraggborough in 1817.[3] His house was originally configured as a Charleston single house with entrance to the house from the south side along Judith Street. The house is considered to be the best preserved complex of antebellum domestic structures in Charleston, South Carolina.[4] It was the home of William Aiken, Jr., a governor of South Carolina, and before that the home of his father, the owner of South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, William Aiken.[5]

Gov. William Aiken House
Not to be confused with William Aiken House and Associated Railroad Structures.
Gov. William Aiken House
Gov. William Aiken House
Location48 Elizabeth St.,
Charleston, South Carolina
Coordinates32°47′29″N 79°56′6″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1820
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Late Victorian, Federal
NRHP reference No.77001216
Added to NRHPNovember 21, 1977[1]

Mrs. Frances Dill Rhett, whose husband had been a direct descendant of Gov. William Rhett, donated the house to the Charleston Museum in 1975.[6] The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.[1] Historic Charleston Foundation owns and operates the Aiken-Rhett House as a historic house museum.

Historic Preservation of the Aiken House & Urban Slavery

The historic structure that belonged to the Aiken family remained in their control for over 142 years. The opportunity then arose in 1975 for the property to be sold to the Charleston Museum, twenty years later the property was sold to the Historic Charleston Foundation.[7] Since the 1995 purchase of the Aiken property, a more traditional approach has been taken to preserve the property. According the Historic Charleston Foundation, what attracted them to purchasing the property was its "unique opportunity to understand and present antebellum urban life and the African American heritage of Charleston to the public."[8] An attractive feature to the Aiken House is its urban development. Most scholars of southern history and culture define antebellum plantation mansions being surrounding by agricultural developments, such as other Charleston area plantations, Drayton Hall, McLeod Plantation, and Magnolia Plantation. However most southern antebellum cities were entrenched with slavery - Richmond, Savannah, and Charleston - which populations made up usually one third of the total city population.[9] According to the 1850 census, Aiken enslaved 7 individuals inside the urban residence, although the Aikens enslaved 878 people in the Charleston and Colleton districts combined.[10] Ten years in 1860, the number of enslaved people at the urban residence jumped to 19 individuals. By the time that the American Civil War broke out, at least 13 enslaved people were at the Aiken property, including 6 children.

Archeological Exhibits & Museum Interpretation

In 2016, a team of archaeologists began to research and survey the slave dwellings on the Aiken-Rhett property. By 2018, the team was able to uncover over 10,000 artifacts. A large majority of the pieces are currently still on display within a exhibit interpreting their cultural significance. The artifacts span from coins and tools, to pieces of bottles and pottery.[11] In a separate research and archeological survey in 2017, a team of archeologists were able to search for evidence of siege lines that British soldiers reportedly dug in the spring of 1780.[12] The Historic Charleston Foundation launched an app in the fall of 2018, which offers further information on topics and a self-guided audio tour. The tour lasts for roughly 45 minutes and includes exhibit descriptions and photographs. The decision to update the tour reportedly came from the director of museums at the Historic Charleston Foundation, Lauren Northup. The older guide for the Aiken-Rhett was constructed in the mid-1990s, and "left out many of the stories they had discovered since then about the lives of the enslaved on the property."[13] The foundation later updated the app to cover more of the Charleston area historic house museums, such as the Nathaniel Russel House and the Magnolia Cemetery. In addition to the stories of enslaved peoples and the African American community, women's history and LGBTQ community have been included as well inside the app.[13]

Urban enslavement dwellings on the Aiken-Rhett Property.

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. McNulty, Kappy (March 15, 1977). "Governor William Aiken House, Robinson-Aiken House" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  3. Stockton, Robert P. (May 17, 1976). "Aiken House". News and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. p. B1.
  4. "Aiken-Rhett House Museum | National Trust for Historic Preservation". Archived from the original on 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  5. "Governor William Aiken House, Charleston County (48 Elizabeth St., Charleston)". National Register Properties in South Carolina listing. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  6. "Aiken House Is Donated To Museum". News and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. December 10, 1975. p. 12C.
  7. "Aiken-Rhett House | National Trust for Historic Preservation". savingplaces.org. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  8. "Aiken-Rhett House". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  9. Vlach, John Michael (1999). "The Plantation Tradition in an Urban Setting: The Case of the Aiken-Rhett House in Charleston, South Carolina". Southern Cultures. 5 (4): 52–69. doi:10.1353/scu.1999.0036. ISSN 1534-1488.
  10. Buck, Susan L. (2005). "Paint Discoveries in the Aiken-Rhett House Kitchen and Slave Quarters". Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. 10: 185–198. ISSN 0887-9885.
  11. Behre, Robert. "New exhibit offers a peek into life in one of Charleston's enslaved work areas". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  12. "Archaeologists find Revolutionary War history at Aiken-Rhett House". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  13. Williams, Emily. "New Historic Foundation app offers self-guided tours of Charleston, house museums". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2020-11-02.

Further reading
  • Vlach, John Michael (1999). "The Plantation Tradition in an Urban Setting: The Case of the Aiken-Rhett House in Charleston, South Carolina". Southern Cultures. 5 (4): 52–69. JSTOR 6236772 – via JSTOR.
External video
Fly-through of Robinson-Aiken House (Double Parlor), Charleston, SC, HABS February 4, 2014


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