French Quarter in Charleston in Charleston County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Institute Hall
⎯⎯⎯
"The Union Is Dissolved!"
Photographed by Harold Colson, December 21, 2010
1. Institute Hall / "The Union Is Dissolved!" Marker
Erected 2010 by Fort Sumter-Fort Moultrie Historical Trust and the S.C. Civil War Sesquicentennial Advisory Board. (Marker Number 10-69.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is December 20, 1860.
Location. 32° 46.704′ N,
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Historic Charleston and in the Lowcountry. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, 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 10 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Ordinance of Secession (here, next to this marker); Carolina Art Association / James S. Gibbes Memorial Art Gallery (within shouting distance of this marker); Josiah Flagg (within shouting distance of this marker); Charleston Gas Light Company (within shouting distance of this marker); Burger's Tavern (within shouting distance of this marker); The Independent or Congregational Church of Charlestown (within shouting distance of this marker); 54 Queen Street (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Hibernian Society (about 400 feet away); Fireproof Building (about 400 feet away); Richard Hutson (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Charleston.
Also see . . .
1. 1860 Democratic National Convention. The 1860 Democratic National Convention was one of the crucial events in the lead-up to the American Civil War. (Submitted on October 1, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)
2. Ordinance of secession. The Ordinance of Secession was the document drafted
Photographed by Brian Scott, September 20, 2011
2. Institute Hall Marker
Additional commentary.
1. Text of the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession
The State of South Carolina
At a Convention of the People of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia on the Seventeenth day of December in the year or our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, and there by divers adjournments to the Twentieth day of December in the same year –
An Ordinance To dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America.”
We, the People of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled do declare and ordain, and it is herby declared and ordained, That the Ordinance adopted by us in Convention, on the twenty-third day of May in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and eight eight, whereby the Constitution of the United State of America was ratified, and also all Acts and parts of Acts of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying
Photographed by Harold Colson, December 21, 2010
3. Institute Hall / "The Union Is Dissolved!" Marker
Done at Charleston, the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty.
[signed] D.F. Jamison Delegate from Barnwell and President of the Convention
[signatures of delegates to the convention]
Attest: Benj. J. Arthur, Clerk of the Convention
— Submitted October 1, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
2. An Account of the "Great Fire" of 1861 (New York Times, December 18, 1861)
The fire broke out at about 9 o'clock in the evening of the 11th inst., in Russell & Olds' sash and blind factory, at the foot of Hazel-street, extending to the machine shop of Cameron & Co. Before midnight the fire had assumed an appalling magnitude, and Meeting-street, from Market to Queen, was one mass of flame. As tenement after tenement was enveloped in flames, the panic became awful, and thousands of families evacuated their houses and filled the streets. The buildings in the lower part of the city, where the fire broke out, were principally of wood, and extremely inflammable, which accounts
Photographed by Brian Scott, September 20, 2011
4. "The Union Is Dissolved!" Marker
At 1 o'clock the fire tended more southward, toward the corner of Archdale and Queen streets, to the rear of the Charleston Hotel and to the end of Hayne-street; crossing Market-street, the fire spread down East Bay to Cumberland street, and across to the Mills House, including in its destruction the Circular Church, Institute Hall and the Charleston Hotel. All the buildings on King-street, from Clifford nearly to Broad, were destroyed before 3 o'clock. Gen. Ripley, who superintended the movements of the troops who arrived on the scene at about this time ordered several buildings on the route of the conflagration to be blown up. After some delay the order was executed, but not before the theatre, Floyd's coach factory, opposite the Express office, the old Executive building, and all the houses from this point to Queen-street had caught fire, and were destroyed.
At about 4 o'clock the wind changed the direction of the flames towards Broad-street. Soon after St. Andrew's Hall took fire, and subsequently the cathedral, the spire of which fell shortly after 5 o'clock. The fire made a clear sweep through the city, making its track from
Photographed by Harold Colson, December 21, 2010
5. Showing earlier "Ordinance of Secession" marker on adjacent building
View is looking north on Meeting Street
The Charleston Courier of the 13th inst. gives a list of between 200 and 300 sufferers, and says that the loss is estimated at from five to seven millions of dollars.
A resolution was unanimously adopted by the Confederate Congress, appropriating two hundred and fifty thousand dollars as an advance on account of the claims of South Carolina upon the Confederate States.
We give herewith a diagram of that part of Charleston which has been ravaged by the great fire. All of that section of the city colored black has not been destroyed; but the whole region from Hazel to Broad-street, and from East Bay to the Catholic Cathedral, near Friend-street, seems to have been assaulted with more or less fury by the devouring element.
The papers of the city give a list of 576 buildings which were burnt on Wednesday alone, and estimate the value of the property destroyed as high as seven millions of dollars. This estimate of value is undoubtedly in the usual Carolina style of exaggeration; and the 576 buildings must include a large proportion of ricketty old shells and negro shanties. Still, it is as evident now as it was from the first accounts, that the business and trading parts of the town, and a great part of its public edifices and churches, are in ashes. The number of the latter now given as being destroyed exceeds the number
Photographed by Mike Stroud, January 2011
6. Institute Hall / "The Union Is Dissolved!" Marker, seen looking north along Meeting Street
Charleston is built on a piece of land very much resembling that part of Manhattan Island on which this City is situated. There is a river on either side, as with us, and the land there as here begins with a narrow point looking out on the bay, and widening as you go up town. Immediately on the Battery there (as used to be the case here) are the residences of the opulent. From these to Broad-street are the houses of middle-class people, many of them wooden -- with the sinks of iniquity and various trading, liquor and junketing shops on the east side, as with us -- only here these are a little higher up. Broad-street, as its
Unknown, courtesy of the New York Historical Society
7. "Institute Hall, where on Dec. 20, 1860 the Ordinance of Secession was ratified"
This undated photograph, the left half of a stereograph, is courtesy of the New York Historical Society, and forms part of the Civil War Treasures of the New York Historical Society collection.
In the photo, some may also find the restaurant next to the Hall of some interest - the "Teetotal Restaurant", with soda water featured prominently on the building's awning.
In the photo, some may also find the restaurant next to the Hall of some interest - the "Teetotal Restaurant", with soda water featured prominently on the building's awning.
— Submitted October 1, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
Photographed by Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1860 Nov. 24, p. 8-9., November 24, 1860
8. "Great mass meeting to endorse the call of the legislature of South Carolina...."
This illustration, fully captioned with "Great mass meeting to endorse the call of the legislature of South Carolina for a state conv. to discuss the question of secession from the Union, held at Institute Hall, Charleston, S.C. on Monday, Nov. 12, 1860" appeared in Frankly Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, a popular newsweekly of the era. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress. (Click on image to enlarge)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 21, 2010, by Harold Colson of San Diego, California. This page has been viewed 9,430 times since then and 388 times this year. Last updated on December 31, 2010, by Harold Colson of San Diego, California. Photos: 1. submitted on December 21, 2010, by Harold Colson of San Diego, California. 2. submitted on October 1, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 3. submitted on December 21, 2010, by Harold Colson of San Diego, California. 4. submitted on October 1, 2011, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 5. submitted on December 21, 2010, by Harold Colson of San Diego, California. 6. submitted on January 8, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 7, 8. submitted on February 6, 2011. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.
