West Point Rice Mill

About this property

West Point Rice Mill is a former rice mill building in Charleston, South Carolina. It is at the City Marina at 17 Lockwood Drive. West Point Mill was one of three large rice mills in Charleston in the 19th century. This building was constructed in 1861 to replace a rice mill that had burned the previous year. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 1995. In 1840, Jonathan Lucas III built a four-story brick, steam-powered rice mill on the Ashley River. This mill burned on November 20, 1860. Construction of a new mill began quickly. Although hampered by the Union blockade, the mill was capable of full operation in late 1863. When Charleston was occupied by the Union Army in 1865, the mill was used as a food distribution center. Its neighbour the East Point Rice Mill had been rebuilt in the mid-1840s by engineer James McLaren and the Scottish merchant James Robb. The mill passed to Robb's sons James Jr and William on his death in 1859. After the Civil War, the mill resumed operations and its production increased. In 1886, it suffered damage from the 1886 Charleston earthquake. Brickwork was damaged and the gables were brought down. At some point before the 1920s, the entire roof was replaced except for the kingposts and trusses. In 1890, the three Charleston mills produced over 97,000 barrels of rice. Competition from western rice growers and a number of hurricanes caused rice production in South Carolina to fall. In 1888, West Point Mill Company purchased a share of Chisolm's Mill. In 1894, West Point and Bennett's Mill combined and bought Chisolm's Mill, which was closed. Rice production continued to fall. West Point Mill was closed in 1920, and the company began to sell its assets. Around 1925, the mill's steam engine was sold to the Henry Ford Museum. The mill's property was sold to the City of Charleston in 1926. In 1930, the U.S. Post Office indicated its desire to build a seaplane base for mail service at the site. Although this was never accomplished, it planted the idea of a seaplane terminal at the site. In 1933, the Civil Works Administration started building the Municipal Yacht Basin. Later that year, the building was leased to American Bagging Company as a depot and warehouse for jute imported for its plant on Meeting Street. The City of Charleston continued to explore opportunities for using the building as a seaplane terminal. In the spring of that year, flights from Germany to Charleston were proposed. In early 1937, the Works Progress Administration started work to convert the mill building into the James F. Byrnes air terminal. Pan American World Airways hired the New York firm of Delano and Aldrich to plan for a passenger station. Reconstruction efforts were carried out on the exterior and first two floors.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

More in Charleston County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Charleston County.

More historic places in South Carolina

Browse all historic places in South Carolina.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

South Carolina history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.