Howe House
1531 Blanding Street

Built in the 1830s, this Federal Style building mimics the Harrison Gray Otis House in Boston, Massachusetts, designed by architect Charles Bulfinch. Theologian Dr. George Howe, a native of Dedham, Massachusetts, may have been recalling the 1797 structure when planning his Columbia home. Originally a single family residence, this three-story, wood-frame structure rests on a brick half-basement. A one-story porch supported by Tuscan columns and a plain banister spans the building's entire south-facing façade. The entryway's fanlight and sidelights may be original, in keeping with the Otis House, though the Neoclassical door surround with dentil molding and slender columns is likely a later addition, dating to at least 1885. The structure is capped by unadorned boxed eaves and a hipped roof. A two-story addition remains on the building's rear, though a small second-story porch addition on its front has been removed.

At 27, the young professor probably had little concept of the legacy he would leave in Columbia. His home on the corner of Blanding and Pickens streets was conveniently located across from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary where he served for fifty-two years. Upon Howe's death from a buggy accident on Blanding Street in 1883, his second wife inherited the property. Later, it passed to George Howe, Jr., husband of Annie Josephine Wilson, a sister of President Woodrow Wilson. She sold the home in 1904 and it quickly came under the ownership of the Black-Stokes family, which remained there for fifty-one years. By the 1970s, the property had lost its former grandeur and was divided into several apartments. In 1979, the building was condemned after a substantial fire on its second floor. Fortunately, the Jarvis Telephone Company of Charleston hired Columbia developer Jack Curry to renovate the building for their offices in 1981. Today, the property is home to the Crews Law Firm.

Staci Richey and John Sherrer

Return to Articles.