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We’re hearing from architectural historian Brittany V. Lavelle Tulla of BVL Historic Preservation Research – who is sharing news about the lesser-known history of downtown Charleston.
Queen’s infamous Blind Tiger
Built in 1866 as a tenement building, the Wagner-Trott Building at 30 State St. became home to many working class families, including young Irish immigrant + grocer Jeremiah O’Brien. In the late 1890s, Jeremiah operated a saloon on the first floor that newspapers of the time referred to as one of the city’s most notorious “blind tigers” and was constantly raided by police for whiskey and beer. Between 1922 and 1928, the first-floor again served as a speakeasy known as the “Queen Lunch Room,” operated by Greek merchant Arthur A. Pappas. In 1 incident, Arthur assaulted an officer by “pulling his coat-tails” to distract the police while his assistant emptied kegs and bottles out of the first floor’s back door. During a 2017 restoration, buckshot holes were found in the structure’s brick walls and could be evidence of this past police activity.
A man + his recliner
The Philip Moore House at 65 Meeting St. was erected in 1800 and by 1914, it was home to New York mechanic Julius Herman Rast. Julius formerly served as the superintendent of the Knickerbocker Cycle Co. and the Stanley Cycle Co. in NYC and invented the “bicycle seat post clamp,” still used today to adjust and secure the height of a bicycle seat. While living here, he also patented the “Rast Incline Attachment” in a shop behind the house that is no longer standing. This invention allowed a car’s front seats to slide and recline. This technology, also still used today, was ultimately applied to the modern recliner chair. Julius is also credited with ushering in the city’s first gasoline-powered vehicles, 1 of which was most likely often parked in the side driveway of 65 Meeting St. in the 1910s.
Presidential fans
The Tobias Scott House located at 17 Water St. was constructed in 1866 amidst the ruins of a war-stricken Charleston and occupied by newly-freed Black craftsman Tobias Scott and his family from 1867 to 1896. During this time, Tobias produced luxury fans, made from turkey feathers, for the Charleston elite. Two of his fans are currently in the collection of the Charleston Museum. According to the collection, President Theodore Roosevelt purchased one of Tobias’ feathered fans during his visit to Charleston at the turn of the twentieth century. Interestingly, recent construction work at 17 Water St. unearthed large turkey bones buried in the backyard.
Through his success in making fans on Water Street, Tobias was able to send his children to college + they became part of the first generation of Black Charlestonians to receive higher education following the Civil War.
