63 ½ Coming Street

63 ½ Coming Street. . , In 2021, a copper alloy slave tag was discovered here, stamped “1853” and “SERVANT.”, The City of Charleston produced and sold these tags (then called “slave badges”) and required enslaved persons to wear them if their enslavers hired out their labor. The tag was found in the remains of a two-story building that served as a kitchen, an office and a dwelling from the mid-1800s to 1906. It is evidence that enslaved men and women worked on this land., This neighborhood, known as Harleston Village, was home to many enslaved people, including July, Charity, Carey, Charles, Morris, Bob, Jonathan, Diana, Isaac, and Judy, who all lived at 18 Bull Street., Nearby, free people of color also lived, owned property and maintained churches and burial grounds. African-descended people continued to enrich the neighborhood during and after Reconstruction. In 1882, Black employees in the household on this site included William Lambers, laborer; Paul Samson, driver; Jane Bell, washerwoman; and Mary Moore, servant., The College of Charleston acquired this property in 1971. In 2021, during construction of a solar pavilion, students and facility in the College’s Center for Historical Landscapes excavated thousands of artifacts and portions of this structure. This sign, showing the slave tag, and the nearby brick hearth are testaments to the resilience of Black people and their contributions to the city.