Florence in Florence County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Lawton-Chase House
⎯⎯⎯
Florence Museum

Lawton-Chase House side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dave W, May 7, 2023

1. Lawton-Chase House side of marker

Inscription.
(side 1)
This Art Moderne house, completed in 1939 for Joseph Maner Lawton, has housed the Florence Museum since 1953. It was designed by Sanborn Chuse, then an engineering student influenced by Moderne architecture in France and later a prominent local businessman. The house features curved streamlined forms, a semicircular glass block entrance bay, and black glass bands just below the roofline. When completed it was described as "the talk of Florence." (Continued on other side) (side 2) (Continued from other side) The Florence Museum, chartered in 1936, was founded by the Florence Museum Committee, a group of civic-minded women who had organized as the Blue Bird Tea Room Committee during World War I. It was housed in the basement of the Florence Public Library from 1939 to 1952, when the museum board acquired this house. Its collection of fine art, archaeological and historical artifacts, and natural science exhibits was opened to the public here in 1953.

Erected 2011 by The Florence Museum. (Marker Number 21-32.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Arts, Letters, Music • Charity & Public Work • Fraternal or Sororal Organizations. A significant historical year for this entry is 1939.

Location. 34° 11.23′ N, 79° 46.571′ W. Marker is in Florence, South Carolina, in Florence County. It is at the intersection of Spruce Street and Graham Street, on the right when traveling east on Spruce Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 558 Spruce St, Florence SC 29501, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

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and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: World War II Memorial (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Dark Days of the Holocaust (approx. 0.3 miles away); Henry Timrod Schoolhouse (approx. 0.3 miles away); Beth Israel Congregation (approx. 0.4 miles away); Florence High School / McClenaghan High School (approx. 0.6 miles away); Our Unknown Confederate Veterans (approx. ¾ mile away); Our Confederate Dead (approx. ¾ mile away); Wilson School / Wilson High School (approx. ¾ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Florence.

Other markers no longer nearby. The Cruiser Pee Dee, C.S.N. (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been confirmed missing); Henry Timrod (was approx. 0.3 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Florence Museum side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dave W, May 7, 2023

2. Florence Museum side of marker

Lawton-Chase House / Florence Museum Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dave W, May 7, 2023

3. Lawton-Chase House / Florence Museum Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on May 9, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 8, 2023, by Dave W of Co, Colorado. This page has been viewed 1,328 times since then and 75 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 8, 2023, by Dave W of Co, Colorado. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

Lawton-Chase House⎯⎯⎯Florence Museum

Lawton-Chase House
⎯⎯⎯
Florence Museum