Francis D. Lee

Francis D. Lee (1826–1885) was an American architect and inventor from Charleston, South Carolina.

Unitarian Church

Life

He graduated from the College of Charleston in 1846 and completed his master's degree in 1848. He worked closely with the community of Charleston, through his work as a member of the South Carolina Society, the Scots Rites Masonic Lodge and as a member of the Unitarian Church.[1] In 1852 he was hired as the architect to design the enlarged and remodeled Unitarian Church in Charleston, which took him 2 years to complete.[2] He worked as an architect until the outbreak of the American Civil War, where he became a Confederate Army Captain under the staffing of General Beauregard,[3] who took full advantage of his inventiveness, by encouraging him to design and construct (with assistance) a small Torpedo Boat, named The Torch. This boat was a spar boat, named so due to explosive devices placed at the end of a long pole or spar, in The Torch's case, it had 3 such spar's mounted to the bow to attack blockading warships.[4]

After the war, he returned to Charleston to set up a partnership with Edward C. Jones which became the firm Jones & Lee,[2] under this guise he went on to design many nationally recognised buildings and monuments (largely during the 1850s). In 1868 he moved to St. Louis[5] and teamed up with Thomas B. Annan, a local architect, they quickly built a reputation for themselves after winning a design competition for St. Louis Merchant's Exchange Building (it cost £2 million to build and was completed in 1875). Lee and Annan parted company in 1876.[6]

In 1884, Lee along with several other local architects founded the first incarnation of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.[6]

Selected works
Name of BuildingLocationDate BuiltFurther Details
Citadel Square Baptist Church328 Meeting St., Charleston, South Carolina1855
Farmers' and Exchange Bank141 E. Bay St., Charleston, South Carolina1854Declared NHL in 1973
Kensington Plantation House4101 McCords Ferry Road, Eastover, South Carolina1851-1853Added to the NRHP in 1971
Old Colleton County JailJeffries Blvd., Walterboro, South Carolina1856Added to the NRHP in 1971
Orangeburg County Jail44 Saint John St., Orangeburg, South Carolina1857-1860Added to the NRHP in 1973
St. Luke's Episcopal Church[7]24 Elizabeth St., Charleston, South Carolina1862
St. Mark's ChurchW of Pinewood on SR 51, Pinewood, South Carolina1855Added to the NRHP in 1978
Unitarian Church6 Archdale St., Charleston, South Carolina1852Declared NHL in 1973

References
  1. "Francis D. Lee – Architectural Extraordinair". The Elliott House Inn. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. "Charleston's Historic Religious and Community Buildings". nps.gov. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. Beard, Rick (8 October 2013). "David vs. Goliath". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  4. Tucker, Spencer C. (2006). Blue & gray navies the Civil War afloat. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781612513591. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  5. Bryan, John M. (1998). Creating the South Carolina State House. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. p. 76. ISBN 1570032912. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  6. Toft, Carolyn Hewes. "Thomas B. Annan (1839-1906)". Landmarks-STL. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. "St. Luke's (Episcopal) Church". The Mercury. Charleston, South Carolina. February 15, 1862. p. 2.


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