Dock Street Theatre Charleston South Carolina
by Melissa Bittinger
Title
Dock Street Theatre Charleston South Carolina
Artist
Melissa Bittinger
Medium
Photograph - Fine Art Photography, Photographic Art
Description
Dock Street Theatre located in the French Quarter just down from St Philip's Church, on the corner of Church and Queen Streets. Queen Street was formally named 'Dock Street'.
The original Historic Dock Street Theatre was America's first building built exclusively for the Theatre and on February 12, 1736. It opened with a performance of The Recruiting Officer. The first opera performance, 'Flora' also took place here. Unfortunately it did not survive long and is thought to have been destroyed in the Great Fire of 1740.
On this location, The Planter's Hotel was built in 1809. Later additions were added over the years like the wrought iron balcony and the sandstone columns salvaged from another historic property. This building is now the last surviving antebellum hotel in existence. I would hazard a guess that the name came about as a result of many of the hotel's guests were planters who would come in from the midlands of South Carolina for horse racing season and I'm sure for other business as well. Well known for it's wonderful food and drinks, it's possible the South's Planter's Punch may have gotten it's start here.
Like much of Charleston, after the Civil War, the hotel fell into disrepair. . In the 1930s, the building was restored by the City of Charleston as a Works Progress Administration project and became the Dock Street Theatre, which was basically on this location originally, I think facing Queen St, while this faces Church Street.
Today this grand building with a rich history and much care in restoration, is home to the Charleston Stage Company, the city's Cultural Affairs office and The City Gallery, an exhibition space for local artists. All of which are a worthy final act in honor of the original historic Dock Street Theatre while retaining the charm of the Planter's Hotel.
Uploaded
June 28th, 2015
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