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

Fountain Fox Beattie House / Greenville Women's Club

 
 
Fountain Fox Beattie House Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Stanley and Terrie Howard, August 30, 2008
1. Fountain Fox Beattie House Marker
Inscription.
Fountain Fox Beattie House
This house, built in 1834, first stood a few blocks south on East North St. It was built by Fountain Fox Beattie (1807-1863), a textile merchant, for his new bride Emily Edgeworth Hamlin. Their son Hamlin Beattie (1835-1914), who founded the National Bank of Greenville in 1872, added wings and elaborate Italianate ornamentation. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Greenville Women's Club
The home remained in the Beattie family until 1946, when the city bought the property to widen Church St. When the house was moved to Beattie Place in 1948, it was leased to the women's organizations of Greenville. The Greenville Woman's Club officially opened in 1949. The house was moved a second time in 1983 to make room for downtown expansion. Member clubs maintain the house and gardens.

[Smaller, dedication marker reads]:
"Given In Honor Of Lottie Babb Neal"
 
Erected 1998 by Greenville Woman. (Marker Number 23-24.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: LandmarksNotable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1834.
 
Location. 34° 51.427′ N, 82° 23.38′ W. Marker is in
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Greenville, South Carolina, in Greenville County. Marker can be reached from Bennett Street near North Church Street (U.S. 29). It is on the grounds of the Greenville Woman's Club. You can enter off North Church Street or Bennett St. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 8 Bennett Street, Greenville SC 29601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Kilgore-Lewis House (approx. 0.2 miles away); 6 inch Field Howitzer Model of 1908 (approx. ¼ mile away); McPherson Park (approx. ¼ mile away); 75 mm Field Gun / 3 inch M1903 (approx. 0.3 miles away); 90 mm M-2 Anti-Aircraft Gun (approx. 0.4 miles away); Post 3 American Legion (approx. 0.4 miles away); Frank Howard (approx. 0.4 miles away); "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (approx. 0.4 miles away); Little Texas (approx. 0.4 miles away); Greenville Memorial Auditorium (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Greenville.
 
Also see . . .  South Carolina Department of Archives and History entry for the Fountain Fox Beattie House. Includes a link to the National Register Nomination form for the Fountain Fox Beattie House. (Submitted on September 2, 2008, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia.) 
 
Additional commentary.
1. Beattie House
The two story Italianate house is one of the oldest structures in the city. It displays beautiful
Greenville Women's Club Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 3, 2008
2. Greenville Women's Club Marker
artwork, a winding staircase, and tall Renaissance columns. in 1949, in danger of being razed, a group of women arranged to have it moved to 1 Beattie Place. Finally, in 1983, the house was moved once more to its current location near Park Avenue. (Source: Greenville County Historic Sites Driving Tour, Greenville County Library System)
    — Submitted September 2, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

2. Fountain Fox Beattie House (Greenville Woman’s Club)
This large Italianate dwelling was originally a much smaller, rather plain residence that was begun ca. 1834 by Fountain Fox Beattie for his bride, Emily Edgeworth. It originally stood on East North Street and underwent numerous alterations to suit a large family. Due to the construction of a government building, the structure was relocated ca. 1940. Interior changes were necessitated for adaptive use by the Greenville Woman’s Club.

Exterior
Enlargement of the original structure was necessary as the size of the Beattie family increased. A specific date for the house’s appearance is uncertain, although the style is that of the Italianate or Tuscan villa mode popularized by Alexander Jackson Davis prior to the War Between the States.

The two-storied central portion of the house has
Fountain Fox Beattie House image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Stanley and Terrie Howard, August 30, 2008
3. Fountain Fox Beattie House
one-story flanking wings to either side. The bracketed roof of the central section is flat except for a central medium gable. The one-story central piazza is supported by six pairs of square columns with one pilaster at each return. The free-standing columns are arranged to form three major and two minor semicircular arches across the front with a major arch to either outer end. This motif is repeated with miniature arches between each column in the pair, this creating a quasi-Palladian effect.

The balustraded piazza has a denticulated cornice with modillions, and paired consoles below.

The central entrance contains double doors in a paneled frame, surmounted by a transom just under an entablature with modillions and dentils. To either side of the door are 12/12 windows flanked by six pane side lights. The entablature motif is repeated here and over the other windows as well.

The second floor façade features a central paid of windows (1/1) surmounted by a broken pediment with central ornamental urn supported by decorative consoles. There are two windows to either side, also with entablature and brackets and dentils.

The adjoining one-story wings have flat, bracketed roofs surmounted by balustrades and narrow double windows (6/6).

Interior
The Georgian floor plan features a wide central hall with arched doorways opening into
Fountain Fox Beattie House image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 3, 2008
4. Fountain Fox Beattie House
drawing rooms to either side. The large staircase to the second floor has a massive leaded glass window on the intermediate landing. While the basic interior detailing remains, various alterations in the 1948 renovation and restoration created large meeting rooms and other areas necessitated by its current use.

Significance
The structure, built by Fountain Fox Beattie ca. 1834, was later enlarged and remodeled to its present appearance. It was the center of social, cultural, and religious life of early Greenville. The house was occupied by Beattie descendents until 1940. Now used as the Greenville Woman’s Club, it is the third oldest structure remaining in Greenville.

Architecture
This Georgia structure was given an Italianate appearance (in the Tuscan or Italian villa style) which was popular prior to the War Between the States. The designs of Alexander Jackson Davis, chief proponent of this style, were widely published and perhaps provided the inspiration for the Italianate detail on the structure.

One of the few 19th Century structures still standing in Greenville, the Greenville Woman’s Club is maintained in excellent condition and is regularly used. In a city with few reminders of its visual past, this two-story Italianate structure is of exceptional value. (Source: National Register nomination form.)
Fountain Fox Beattie House image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, September 3, 2008
5. Fountain Fox Beattie House
    — Submitted July 23, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

3. Fountain Fox Beattie
Fountain Fox Beattie, son of the late J. E. Beattie, born in Greenville in 1878, was educated in local schools, in Furman University, University of Michigan and in George Washington University at Washington, D. C., where he studied law and received his degree with the class of 1902.

In the same year he began his professional work at Greenville and practiced actively for several years. From 1906 to 1908 he was a member of the State Legislature. He married Miss Janell Arnold of Greenwood, South Carolina. Their three children are Fountain Fox, Jr., Janell Arnold, and Dannitte Mays Beattie. (Source: History of South Carolina by Yates Snowden, pgs 17-18.)
    — Submitted July 23, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
 
Fountain Fox Beattie image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott
6. Fountain Fox Beattie
S.C. House of Rep 1906-1908
Greenville's Woman's Club image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Stanley and Terrie Howard, August 30, 2008
7. Greenville's Woman's Club
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 16, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2008, by Stanley and Terrie Howard of Greer, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 3,667 times since then and 52 times this year. Last updated on September 3, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. Photos:   1. submitted on August 30, 2008, by Stanley and Terrie Howard of Greer, South Carolina.   2. submitted on September 3, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   3. submitted on August 30, 2008, by Stanley and Terrie Howard of Greer, South Carolina.   4, 5. submitted on September 3, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   6. submitted on July 23, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.   7. submitted on August 30, 2008, by Stanley and Terrie Howard of Greer, South Carolina. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024