Governor Thomas Bennett House

Copyright: Contact The Charleston Museum Archives for publication quality images and credit instructions.

Description:

Black and white photograph of the east side and north rear of the Governor Thomas Bennett House located at 69 Barre Street, originally addressed as 1 Lucas Street.

Built c.1825 by Thomas Bennett Jr., the brick, two and a half story Charleston double house, is constructed on top of a raised stucco basement with interior Regency style woodwork and plasterwork and a free flying staircase connecting the first and second floors. Bennett was a partner with his father in their lumber and saw milling business and was also involved in local politics. He served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1804 to 1818, the Governor of South Carolina from 1820 to 1822 and later as a member of the South Carolina Senate from 1837 to 1840. The house originally overlooked Bennett's rice and saw mills and mill pond which were filled-in in the 1880's and '90s.

Photographer Charles N. Bayless, funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, photographed and recorded the Carolina Lowcountry between 1970 and 1988. The South Carolina Project took place between 1977 and 1979.