View source for Engineering:Fireproof Building

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                  = Fireproof Building
| nrhp_type             = nhl
| image                 = South Carolina Historical Society.JPG
| caption               = Fireproof Building
| location              = 100 Meeting St., Charleston, South Carolina
| coordinates           = {{coord|32.7772|-79.9309|source:Doncram|display=inline,title}} 
| locmapin              = South Carolina#USA
| area                  =
| built                 = 1822–1827
| architect             = Robert Mills
| architecture          = Greek Revival
| designated_nrhp_type  = November 7, 1973<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=838&ResourceType=Building |title=Fireproof Building |accessdate=2008-03-21 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606143441/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=838&ResourceType=Building |archive-date=2011-06-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| added                 = July 29, 1969<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| refnum                = 69000161
| nrhp_type2            = nhldcp
| nocat                 = yes
| designated_nrhp_type2 = October 9, 1960
| partof                = Charleston Historic District
| partof_refnum         = 66000964
}}
The '''Fireproof Building''', also known as the '''County Records Building''', is located at 100 Meeting Street, at the northwest corner of Washington Square, in Charleston, South Carolina. Completed in 1827, it was the most [[Engineering:Fireproofing|fire-resistant]] building in America at the time, and is believed to be the oldest [[Engineering:Fire-resistance rating|fire-resistant]] building in America today.<ref name="scdahsum">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/charleston/S10817710009/index.htm|title=Fireproof Building, Charleston County (100 Meeting St., Charleston) |accessdate=2008-03-21|work=National Register Properties in South Carolina listing|publisher=South Carolina Department of Archives and History}}</ref>

After an extensive renovation, the building reopened in 2018 as the South Carolina Historical Society Museum.

==Description and history==
The Fireproof Building is a two-story masonry structure, set on a tall stone basement with an arcade of round-arch openings and built out brick that has been stuccoed to resemble stone.<ref name="nrhpinv2"/>  The building is in the Greek Revival style, with Doric porticoes north and south, and achieves a sophisticated appearance with clean and crisp lines, and relatively little ornamentation. Inside, the building has an oval stair hall lit by a cupola. The stone stairs are cantilevered through three stories.

The building was built to house the office and records of Charleston County. The contractor, John G. Spidle, built it in 1827 to the design of Robert Mills, the nation's first domestically-trained architect and an early advocate of fire-resistant buildings.<ref>Edgar, Walter, ed. ''The South Carolina Encyclopedia'', University of South Carolina Press, 2006, p. 325, {{ISBN|1-57003-598-9}}</ref> The Fireproof Building was listed on the [[Earth:National Register of Historic Places|National Register of Historic Places]] in 1969,<ref name="nris"/> and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: The Fireproof Building|url={{NHLS url|id=69000161}} |format=pdf|date=April 20, 1973 |author=Tray Stephenson and Bernard Kearse |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=69000161|title=''Accompanying one photo, exterior, from 1971''|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(32&nbsp;KB)}}</ref>

The building is currently the home of the South Carolina Historical Society. In 2016-17 the society completed a major renovation intended to modernize all systems, to provide a secure, climate controlled environment for the storage of historic documents, and to provide both an events venue and modern museum space.  In the summer of 2018 the society reopened the building as a museum dedicated to the history of South Carolina and to the history of the Fireproof Building itself.<ref name="BehreEyes">{{cite news|last1=Behre|first1=Robert|title=Charleston's famous Fireproof Building building will tell state's history — and its own — through new eyes|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-s-famous-fireproof-building-building-will-tell-state-s/article_d85f042c-b36e-11e7-9dbd-d317b5d56e1f.html|access-date=21 November 2017|newspaper=The Post and Courier|date=11 November 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
* List of National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston, South Carolina
* [[Engineering:Fireproofing|Fireproofing]]
* [[Engineering:Passive fire protection|Passive fire protection]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/charleston/S10817710009/index.htm Fireproof Building, Charleston County (100 Meeting St., Charleston)], including 7 photos, at South Carolina Department of Archives and History
*{{HABS |survey=SC-13-2 |id=sc0359 |title=County Records Building, 100 Meeting Street (at Chalmers Street), Charleston, Charleston County, SC |photos=27 |color=1 |dwgs=8 |data=5 |cap=3 |supp=yes}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070625085924/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/Charleston/ Historic Charleston's Religious and Community Buildings, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]
*Robert P. Stockton, ''Information for Guides of Historic Charleston'', South Carolina 350 (1985).
*[http://www.southcarolinahistoricalsociety.org/ South Carolina Historical Society]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070815234843/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/charleston/fir.htm U.S. National Park Service]

{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina}}

[[Category:Passive fire protection]]

{{Sourceattribution|Fireproof Building}}