Tour Walterboro’s Historic District

Stroll the nationally recognized streets of Downtown Walterboro

The Historic District of Walterboro has a significant collection of properties located in the center of town. Most of the buildings were constructed between 1800 and 1945, representing a range of architectural styles representing the historical development of the town. Walterboro got its start as a pineland village which was settled by planters in search of a healthy summer retreat away from mosquito-borne illnesses. By 1832 the town had a summer population of 900 and a winter population of half that number. At the time the summer retreat had a courthouse, churches, a library, market house and academies for both boys and girls. The streets were laid out in 1839. Walterboro became the county seat of government in 1817 and continued to grow in political and social prestige until the Civil War. During Reconstruction, the town began to grow again as a meeting place for deposed planters. By 1880 Walterboro had thirteen stores and eight churches. By the mid-1890s Walterboro had the largest railway station between Charleston and Savannah. A great deal of downtown Walterboro was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. These homes have been lovingly restored and maintained. A walk along the oak lines streets to view these homes is a great activity to do while in the Lowcountry.

1. The Little Library (801 Wichman Street) was built when the Library Society was founded, in 1820. The building’s three-bay façade is covered in weatherboard and adorned with a fan light over the doorway. The Federal style building sits in a park located in front of the Bedon-Lucas House.

2. St. Jude’s Episcopal Church was founded in 1855 and rebuilt after the great cyclone of 1879. Sitting at 400 Fishburne Street, the Carpenter Gothic style church has board and batten exterior walls and simulated buttresses. Five lancet windows grace each side of the church and a steeple rises above. Just next door at 404 Fishburne Street sits the rectory for St. Jude’s Episcopal Church. This gable-roofed cottage was built around 1905. The five-bay façade has a central entrance with a multi light transom and sidelights. A one-story brick and concrete block building and outbuilding sit behind the church. They were both added in 1940.

3. The Bedon Lucas House (205 Church Street) was built in the early 1800s. This Federal style raised cottage is one of the few remaining high houses in Walterboro. These houses were built on higher ground and elevated to attempt to avoid the damp soil and mosquito-borne illnesses associated with summers in the Lowcountry. The house’s name comes from the first two occupants of the house: Mr. Bedon commissioned the building and Mr. Lucas bought it in 1840. The second owner also donated a portion of his front yard to create a park. Walterboro’s Little Library was moved here in 1843. The house was occupied by the Lucas family until the mid-1950s. It fell into disrepair and was acquired by the Colleton County Historical and Preservation Society. The house was restored and serves as their headquarters. The house is available for tours. 843-549-9633. Read our Blog on the Bedon-Lucas House.

4. The Victorian cottage at 305 Church Street was built before 1905. The asymmetrical plan has a complicated roofline and an L-shaped extension on the left side. The slender porch columns of the porch have pierced brackets and turned balusters. Two doorways are surrounded by sidelights and are topped with transoms.

5. Built in 1931, the cottage at 406 Church Street has a gabled roof that extends to cover a large front porch with square pillars on brick piers. The façade is off-center between paired windows.

6. The Dr. James Klein House is located at 104 Valley Street. Built in 1844, the two-story house has a portico that is supported by four impressive Tuscan columns. The five-bay façade is centered with a double door surrounded by a transom and sidelights. A balcony complete with balustrade sits atop the entry.

7. 204 Valley Street is home to this 1920s bungalow. Built on a high brick basement, it has a gable roof which extends across the large front porch. Tapered square pillars on brick piers support the porch roof. The front entrance has side lights and is centered in the five-bay façade.

8. Sitting atop the hill at 208 Valley Street is this large one-story house. Built in 1920, the house sits on a high basement and has a large front porch that sits under the gable roof. The porch has square pillars on brick piers and bracketed, overhanging eaves.

9. The cottage at 212 Valley Street was built in 1941. The entrance is in a small front pavilion between paired windows.

10. The Glover-McLeod House can be found at 109 Savage Street. This house was built prior to 1839. It features a high basement and flanking chimneys. Two tiers of verandas adorn the façade. The centered doorway has a transom and sidelights. The second story porch can be accessed through each of the upper-level front rooms. The house sits back off the road, surrounded by live oak trees. The property also includes an antebellum servant’s house and outbuildings.

11. The Perry-Smoak House is found at 1011 Savage Road. This one-story antebellum cottage has a five-bay façade and sits on a high basement. The double entrance is centered under the shed roof of the front parch. Two symmetrical chimneys rise from the roof ridge.

12. The cottages of Savage Street can be viewed as you proceed on the route. The little cottage at 110 Savage Street has a gabled porch in the center of its façade with a louvered fan in the gable. The porch is supported with two tapered square pillars. The single-story frame house at 118 Savage Street has a gable roof and a small porch with paired columns on brick bases. The one-story frame house at 124 Savage Street has a hip roof porch and four fluted square posts. The entrance is centered and has an elliptical fanlight and sidelights.

13. The Palmer-Edwards House is at 1303 Wichman Street. This antebellum home is a one-story cottage with a gabled tin roof. The shed roof veranda is supported by six square posts and turned balusters. The main entrance is centered in a three-bay façade. Double doors are surrounded by a multi light transom and sidelights. The property also includes and outbuilding.

14. The Fraser House is located at 1217 Wichman Street. Built in 1856, the second story was a later addition. The porch has paired columns on piers, turned balusters and a wide entablature. The impressive entry has double doors, a transom, and sidelights.

15. The side of the lovely Padgett House adorns the corner of Lemacks and 1126 Wichman Street. It was built in 1900 for James Padgett, a member of the South Carolina Senate. The asymmetrical design is two and a half stories tall. Porches can be found on the front and side. A semi-circular porch bay dominates the left side of the façade and is balanced by two tiers of porches with paired columns on the right.

16. 401 N. Lemacks Street is a one-story wooden house. A bungalow style veranda extends across the front.

17. 227 Chaplin Street was built in the early 1900s. The one-story frame house is rectangular with a symmetrical façade. The central entrance is framed with a transom and sidelights. The porch was added in the 1930s. It was given a new jerkinhead roof in the 1960s.

18. The Church of the Atonement sits next door at 207 Chaplin Street. This small Victorian church was built in 1886. The frame construction has a high-pitched gable roof and square tower. The church and lower portion of the tower are covered in narrow weatherboards. The upper portion of the tower is faced with wooden shingles. The steeple rises above an open framework of braced timbers. The arched entrance is in the base of the tower, shaded by a small gabled hood.

19. 203 Chaplin Street has a tiny one-story frame dwelling with a gabled tin roof. The bungalow-style front porch was believed to have been added in the 1920s.  

20. 111 Chaplin Street and the cottages of Tracy Street were built in the 1930s. These bungalows have a gabled rooves and front porches with tapered squared pillars on brick piers.

21. The tiny Gresham House is located at 200 Fishburne Street. Built in 1931, this little cottage has a low-pitched gable roof with the gable facing the street which has overhanging eaves and brackets. The entrance is under a small porch that is supported with square posts.

22. The Spell House can be found at 214 Fishburne Street. Built between 1912 and 1920, this one and a half-story frame house has a high gable with a central quadripartite window. The large porch is supported with paneled pillars on brick piers. Oversized sidelights and a transom surround the door.

23. The Warren House sits next door at 114 Bellinger Street. The one and a half story frame house was built in 1920. It is rectangular with a gable roof and a half story extended over the front porch. The front gable has three closely spaced windows and bracketed overhanging eaves. Four tapered, square posts support the second story above the porch. Double windows flank the front entrance that is surrounded by transom and sidelights.

24. The Fraser House is located at 112 Bellinger Street. This one-story bungalow was built in 1931. The asymmetrical plan has a front extension with paired windows on the right side. A porch complete with tripartite window and door with sidelights sits on the left side. A shed roof dormer has four windows.

25. . The McTeer House can be found at 108 Bellinger Street. This one-story bungalow was built in 1931. It has a gable roof which extends to shelter the porch. Substantial brick piers support the corners. The gable has bracketed overhanging eaves. The entrance has sidelights, and the front windows are paired.

26. Built before 1905, the First Baptist was built in the Queen Anne style. It became St. John’s Independent Methodist Church and is now the Fishers of Men T.M.D. Church. The frame building was built in a cruciform shape with oversized gable ends. The gables are covered in wooden shingles and are adorned with round louvered vents. The front entrance is in a small gabled porch with engaged square pillars. The windows are decorated with colored glass. 129 Neyle Street.

27. This large Victorian cottage at 123 Neyle Street was built around 1905. It boasts a high-pitched gable roof with a matching gable over the front porch. Two large, corbelled chimneys rise from the interior. The house has small flanking wings. The wraparound veranda is topped with a shed roof and supported by turned colonettes and balusters. The centrally placed entrance has a multi-light transom and sidelights.  

28. The Miller-Fraser House is located at 734 Wichman Street. Built around 1885, the L-shaped house has a gabled front wing with paired windows and a denticulated cornice. A portion of the porch was enclosed.

29. St. Peter’s AME Church is located on Fishburne Street. This Gothic Revival church was built around 1870. It is rectangular, with a gable-roofed body and a square tower rising above the gabled front extension. The tower has four sections; the lower section contains the main entrance with double doors and a transom. The third level of the tower contains a multi-light window. The fourth level has traceried, pointed arched openings that are balustraded on the bottom. The steeple rises above the fourth level.  The exterior is covered in weatherboard. The windows are multi-light with traceried, pointed, arch transoms. 302 Fishburne Street.

30. The cottage at 915 Wichman Street was built in 1920. The one and a half story frame house has an asymmetrical gable roof. The porch is covered by an oversized shed roof and dormer. The recessed veranda has tapered square pillars.

31. The house at 919 Wichman Street was also built in 1920. The two-story house has a flat roofed portico with four Ionic columns on brick bases. A veranda with paired colonettes on brick bases graces the first level and is topped with a balustrade on the second, which is recessed behind the portico. A porte cochere sits to the left which has been topped with a later addition.

32. The Fraser House sits at 918 Wichman Street. Built in 1858, the house is a one and a half-story frame cottage on a high basement. The tin roof is punctuated with twin dormers on the front slope. Six square posts support the shed roof porch. The entrance is centrally located in the five-bay façade. The door is surrounded by a transom and sidelights.

33. 1000 Wichman is home to this 19^th Century bungalow. The square house has a hipped roof with two interior chimneys. The hipped roof porch has square posts on brick piers. The centered entrance has a multilight transom and partially paneled sidelights. The double doors have arched panels.

34. An L-shaped Victorian sits at 1004 Wichman Street. The house has a gabled front wing and shed roofed veranda.  A 20^th Century addition extends from the right side.

35. This 1906 beauty can be found at 1003 Wichman Street. The two-story frame house has a gable roof and two tiers of veranda. Squared posts support the porches, and a balustrade secures the second story porch. The centered entrance has multipaned sidelights.

36. The Bellinger House is located at 1009 Wichman Street. It was built in the early 1800s. The two-story frame house has a gabled tin roof. The entrance is centered between three bays. The door is framed with a transom and sidelights.  The first-floor windows are tripartite in design. The original design included two tiers of veranda.  The shed roofed porch and squared pillars are from a 1931 renovation

37. Built in 1926, the Hicks-Graham-Smith House sits at 1111 Wichman Street. This bungalow style house has a gable roof. The porch has been converted into a sunroom.

38. 1116 Wichman Street is home to a one-story frame cottage covered in shiplap siding. A porte cochere sits on the left and is balanced by a porch on the right. Tapered square posts on brick piers support the porch roof.

39. The Bellinger-Lewis-Moorer-Black House is located at 1123 Wichman Street. This t-shaped frame house was built in the early 20^th Century. It has a complex roofline and a one and a half story central portion and two-story wings. The front gable has a tripartite window. The porch is supported by paneled square posts on piers.

40. Part 1 of the tour ends at the front of the lovely Padgett House. We viewed the side of this property in number 15.

After you finish with this first part of the tour, don’t forget to look for Part 2 of the Walterboro National Historic District Walking Tour. (Coming Soon!)