Smith-Gordon-People's Building

Smith-Gordon-People's Building. 15 Broad Street. , 15 Broad Street is a four-story brick and stucco building located on the eastern half of Lot 12 of the 1672 Grand Modell of Charleston in the city’s earliest banking and business district. It was designed for ground floor commercial use with offices and residences above in the Federal era and was later updated with Italianate-style details., An earlier residence on the property was lost in the fire of 1778, and Scotswoman Agnes Smith purchased the vacant parcel in 1801. 15 Broad Street was likely built by her son, Hugh Smith, a merchant and amateur architect who used the first story as a business. Hugh designed the St. Andrews Society Hall on Broad Street, lost in the Fire of 1861, and competed with architect Robert Mills to design the University of South Carolina’s first buildings. By 1802, Agnes was living upstairs and offered for rent a "store with a large counting house." When Agnes died in 1834, her will included several enslaved people who may have resided with her at 15 Broad Street., Samuel McCartney bought the property from Agnes’ estate and ran a hardware firm with his nephew, fellow Scotsman Alexander Gordon. Gordon bought 15 Broad Street in 1848 and resided there with his family. He and his business partner, watchmaker James M. Gardiner, updated the façade in the 1850s with terra cotta window cornices, cast iron window grilles, and an Italianate bracketed cornice at the roofline. The Victorian-era shopfront with sculpted stucco Italianate pilasters and plate glass windows were likely installed after the Earthquake of 1886., The People’s National Bank owned 15 Broad Street from 1854 to 1911, operating on the ground floor and leasing office space on the upper floors and in a series of rear additions. Tenants included various law and real estate firms, a British consul (1891), and local architect Rutledge Holmes (1898), among others. While the property originally stretched south to Elliott Street, the rear buildings were subdivided into a separate parcel in 1944. Joseph P. Riley, Jr., purchased 15 Broad Street with his father and renovated the building for expanded commercial use in 1975, the year he was first elected mayor of Charleston. The Riley family also owned 11 and 13 Broad Street.