Poyas-Mordecai House

Poyas-Mordecai House

 

69 Meeting Street
c. 1796-1800

 

This Charleston single house was built between 1796 and 1800 by physician and second-generation French Huguenot Dr. John Ernest Poyas Jr (1758-1824). The house occupies a double lot containing extensive gardens and an original kitchen house to the rear. A notable Gothic Revival style carriage house was demolished in the 1960s.

 

Constructed in the Federal style, this three-and-one-half-story masonry residence was altered significantly in the mid-late 19th century with the addition of the two-tiered Greek Revival piazza and a three-story addition connecting the main house and kitchen house. Number 69 Meeting was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1886 necessitating significant reconstruction of the east and west facades.

 

The property was purchased in 1837 by Moses Cohen Mordecai (1804-1888), Charleston shipping magnate and civic leader. Owner of Mordecai & Co. steamship line, he was also a member of the South Carolina Senate and parnas, or president, of the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim congregation. Although the founder of Unionist newspaper the Southern Standard, Mordecai later became a blockade runner in support of the Confederacy.

 

After the Civil War, Mordecai relocated to Baltimore where he reestablished his business and remained a benefactor to his native state, notably sponsoring the return of remains of 84 soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg to their families in South Carolina.

 

placed by the
PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF CHARLESTON 2020

Submitted by @lampbane