The Julius L. Lee House

The Julius L. Lee House. 53 Church Street. Evidence suggests that this house was built after Julius Lilyestrom Lee purchased the property in 1877 for $1,000 from Mary Gadsden and Susan Gibbes, descendants of Joseph Ball. As early as 1879, Lee and business partner Antonio Nielson based their stevedore business, Lee and Nielson, out of this two-and-one-half-story single house., Built on a raised foundation over a substantial basement, this stuccoed brick dwelling has marble sills and lintels, as well as a pilastered, closed gable end. Tuscan columns support the two-tiered piazza, whose screen exhibits a modest entry surround. In a sheriff's sale on November 5, 1885, the property was sold to grocer John H. Klenke for $4,000., Klenke used the house as a rental property, although it was vacant for a short time following the earthquake of 1886, having suffered only minor damage resulting in small cracks over the openings on its front façade. The Rev. John Johnson was Klenke's tenant at 53 Church from 1887 to 1902 and served as rector of St. Philip's church from 1872 to 1906, a year before his death., Prior to serving his church, Johnson spent several years as a civil engineer. During the Union's siege of Charleston in the Civil War, Johnson was the engineer in charge of Fort Sumter's defense for the Confederate States Army. He later became Major of Engineers and wrote an account of the battle in his book, The Defense of Charleston Harbor: Including Fort Sumter and the Adjacent Islands., The property passed through several owners in the 20th century, including First Baptist Church, which used the dwelling as a parsonage for four decades from 1970 to 2010.