{"id":22,"featured":0,"modified":"2025-01-24 20:33:01","latitude":32.78946721204399494808967574499547481536865234375,"longitude":-79.94221508502960205078125,"title":"Morris Street Business District","address":null,"thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/6b134a664485293908143b0168d88c88.jpg","creator":["Mills Pennebaker"],"description":"Realtors, newer residents, and tourists in Charleston usually include the neighborhood around Morris Street in the Cannonborough-Elliottborough or Radcliffeborough subdivisions. To do so, however, erases Morris Street\u2019s individuality and distinctive story. Morris Street, bounded by King Street and Rutledge Avenue, has a unique history that illustrates resistance, vitality, and slavery\u2019s legacies. Not only did a strong neighborhood and community develop along Morris Street, but the area also became an important business center for immigrants and African Americans. However, until the Antebellum era, the land that is today Morris Street was undeveloped and primarily used for agricultural purposes. In 1849, the Elliott-Morris family auctioned the land to brothers Joseph and Richard DeReef, two members of Charleston\u2019s free African American population.

In the early 1850s, the DeReefs established a lumber factory, prompting the land\u2019s urban development; the DeReef brothers created DeReef Court\u2014a residential block bordering Morris Street\u2014for African American lumber workers. The Morris Street neighborhood itself was relatively diverse with a population comprised of free and enslaved African Americans, working and middle-class whites (many of whom were recent immigrants from Europe), and some elite individuals, such as the DeReefs.

Morris Street represented an area of privacy and autonomy for many enslaved Charlestonians as the area developed into a neighborhood and community. By the Antebellum era, many cities relied upon a modified version of slavery that included the \u201chiring out\u201d and \u201cliving out\u201d systems. These systems allowed enslaved people to increase agency over their lives, sometimes to the extent of living away from enslavers and employers. As the hiring out and living out systems became more prolific, the neighborhoods where enslaved people lived grew.

The city of Charleston\u2014and its many neighborhoods\u2014were all impacted by the American Civil War. Immediate effects included the liberation of thousands of enslaved Charlestonians, some of whom would call Morris Street their home. People formerly enslaved in rural areas flocked to urban centers and, according to census records, over 37,000 people were enslaved in Charleston county alone. The Morris Street neighborhood swelled with the influx of formerly enslaved people, who added to the community along Morris Street.

On Morris Street, new institutions represented some of the Reconstruction-era goals of the city\u2019s Black population. For example, Freedman\u2019s Bureau agents used buildings on Morris Street as offices and spaces to assist African American Charlestonians\u2019 transition from slavery to freedom. The Freedman\u2019s Bureau helped operate the Morris Street School (later renamed Simonton School), which opened specifically for African American children in 1865. The Missionary Record<\/em>, an outspoken African American-owned newspaper, operated out of a building on Morris Street, publishing and circulating political, economic, and religious news for southern African Americans.

Many churches were also formally established following the end of the American Civil War. Previously, strict laws prevented free and enslaved African Americans from gathering in large groups and having religious services with no white supervision. Laws tightened following the 1822 attempt to liberate enslaved Charlestonians, which was led by Denmark Vesey. After this, white mobs destroyed some churches and Black congregations were forced to meet in secrecy throughout the Antebellum and Civil War years. However, beginning in 1865, African American churches reopened all over Charleston. Two churches\u2014Morris Brown AME and First Baptist\u2014still offer services and community assistance through food pantries on Morris Street.

As Reconstruction ended and the restrictive Jim Crow era began, the Morris Street neighborhood was a beacon of African American community and resilience in a sea of white hostility and segregation. A variety of African American-owned businesses continued to thrive as the community strengthened. Barbershops, groceries, laundry services, and restaurants opened. Motels also made an appearance. The Brooks Motel and Restaurant (non-extant), once located at 56, 58, and 60 Morris Street, was an important stop for many African American tourists. The restaurant was featured in the Travelers\u2019 Green Book, a travel guide for African Americans during the era of segregation, and was well-known in and outside of Charleston. The Brooks Motel gained even more recognition during Charleston\u2019s civil rights movement when notable African American leaders\u2014including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2014stayed at the motel.

Morris Street\u2019s twentieth century demographics followed the trends of the previous century. The neighborhood continued to consist primarily of African Americans, but a few immigrants also called Morris Street their home. During the nineteenth century, most of these individuals were from Western Europe. Some European immigrants and their descendants continued to live along Morris Street in the twentieth century, but their numbers shrank. Also, other immigrants from Eastern European and Asian countries accompanied Western Europeans. For example, Charlie Lum owned and operated \u201cChinese Laundries\u201d at the corner of King and Morris Streets in the 1910s. However, due to segregation and white flight, the overall population of Morris Street was predominantly African American for much of the twentieth century.

Morris Street\u2019s relatively diverse population became threatened as early as the 1970s by a different legacy of slavery: gentrification. Zoning laws forced many economic establishments out of business. Growing rent and property taxes are also culprits in heightening gentrification. Some may argue that gentrification is not a legacy of slavery but a way to \u201cbetter\u201d neighborhoods, eradicate crime, and increase an area\u2019s wealth. This argument fails to see the full story. Gentrification is a tool used by white elites to continue to suppress historically Black neighborhoods and their residents. Anthropologist Shea Winsett argues that \u201cgentrification is a threat to Black American economic survival [since] economic instability has historically been a way to marginalize Black Americans in society.\u201d Morris Street\u2019s identity as a African American and immigrant business district has been all but completely wiped away by late twentieth and twenty-first century gentrification practices.

Understanding the historical significance of Morris Street is important for a number of reasons. Its story reveals how African Americans in Charleston were able to resist slavery and its legacies during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through community and economic development. Buildings on Morris Street stand out as important sites of twentieth century civil rights organization. But the legacies of slavery continue to persist along Morris Street as gentrification ravages this historically important neighborhood and community.","sponsor":null,"subtitle":null,"accessinfo":null,"lede":"Realtors, newer residents, and tourists in Charleston usually include the neighborhood around Morris Street in the Cannonborough-Elliottborough or Radcliffeborough subdivisions. To do so, however, erases Morris Street\u2019s individuality and distinctive story.","website":null,"related_resources":["

1900-1930 City of Charleston Directories, South Carolina Historical Society Archives, College of Charleston Libraries and Special Collections, Charleston, SC.<\/span><\/p>","

1915 City of Charleston Directories, South Carolina Historical Society Archives, College of Charleston Libraries and Special Collections, Charleston, SC.<\/span><\/p>","

Bernard Powers, \u201cSlavery in Antebellum Charleston,\u201d in <\/span>Black Charlestonians: A Social History, 1822-1855 <\/span><\/i>(Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1994).<\/span><\/p>","

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, \u201cAbout Missionary Record,\u201d Library of Congress.<\/span><\/p>","Debra L. Morgan, \u201cA Historic Architectural Resources Survey of the Dereef Court and Park Area,\u201d(December 2017).<\/span>","

DeReef Court and Park Collection, 1854-2012, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, Charleston, SC.<\/span><\/p>","

Douglas R. Egerton, \u201cVesey, Denmark,\u201d South Carolina Encyclopedia.<\/span><\/p>","

Jian Li, \u201cA History of the Chinese in Charleston,\u201d <\/span>The South Carolina Historical Magazine <\/span><\/i>99, no. 1 (1998).<\/span><\/p>","

Records of the City Board of Public School Commissioners, 1812-1935, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC.<\/span><\/p>","

The Travelers\u2019 Green Book: 1960 (New York: Victor H. Green & Co., 1960)<\/span><\/i><\/p>","

Shea A. Winsett, \u201c\u2019It\u2019s Not Meant for Us\u2019: Exploring the Intersection of Gentrification, Public Education, and Black Identity in Washington, D.C. (PhD dissertation, College of William and Mary, 2019).<\/span><\/p>","

U.S. Census Bureau 1860, 1890, 1930, and 1960 Population of South Carolina and Charleston County, South Carolina, United States.<\/span><\/p>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/6b134a664485293908143b0168d88c88.jpg":{"id":273,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Morris Street 1872","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/6b134a664485293908143b0168d88c88.jpg","description":"This portion of the 1872 \u201cA Bird\u2019s Eye View of the City of Charleston, South Carolina\u201d includes Morris Street. During the Antebellum era, the Morris Street neighborhood represented an area of privacy and autonomy for many enslaved Charlestonians who exploited the living out system. Following the American Civil War, many people who were formerly enslaved in rural areas flocked to cities like Charleston; some would call Morris Street their new home. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. "},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/ec689fe8f8cf14679217bb11f1c5b0be.jpg":{"id":274,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Simonton School","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/ec689fe8f8cf14679217bb11f1c5b0be.jpg","description":"During the Reconstruction era, new institutions established on Morris Street represented hopes and goals of Charleston\u2019s African American population. For example, in 1865, the Morris Street School (later named Simonton School) opened exclusively for African American children on the corner of Morris and Jasper Streets. This 1891 picture shows a group of schoolchildren and their teacher walking across the yard at Simonton School. The picture offers just a snapshot into the lives of the individuals pictured. Did any of these children or teachers live along Morris Street? Did their parents or relatives operate any businesses in the neighborhood? Courtesy of the Library of Congress. "},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/3444e5d76e12363bda565b167591007a.jpg":{"id":328,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Richard DeReef","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/3444e5d76e12363bda565b167591007a.jpg","description":"Undated portrait of Richard DeReef, who, along with his brother Joseph, were among some of the wealthiest free Black Charlestonians during the Antebellum era. The DeReef brothers purchased land in Charleston in 1849 to establish a lumber factory. The establishment of the lumber factory in the 1850s prompted the urban development of the surrounding land and the DeReef brothers created DeReef Court, a residential block bordering Morris Street for African American lumber workers. A relatively diverse neighborhood quickly sprung up along Morris Street. Courtesy of Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. "},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/f56e0d7795abe76c23cc13103648af8f.jpg":{"id":351,"mime-type":"image\/png","title":"Brooks Motel","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/f56e0d7795abe76c23cc13103648af8f.jpg","description":"This 1990 image shows the Brooks Motel and Restaurant, which was previously located at the corners of Morris and Felix Streets. The Brooks was an important stop for many African American tourists and travelers during the Jim Crow era of segregation and was well-known in and outside of Charleston. The Brooks Motel gained even more recognition during Charleston\u2019s civil rights movement when notable African American leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stayed at the motel. Photograph by Steve Rhea, courtesy of Lois Lane Properties. "},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/7fcc9ce770f1787e4430ec7cd2fcf2b1.jpg":{"id":352,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Brooks Motel in Travelers\u2019 Green Book","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/7fcc9ce770f1787e4430ec7cd2fcf2b1.jpg","description":"The Brooks Restaurant is featured in this 1960 edition of the Travelers\u2019 Green Book<\/em>. Use of the star symbol indicated the Green Book\u2019s recommended establishments. Courtesy of the New York Public Library."},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/4817550003818d369607313e93b77817.jpg":{"id":353,"mime-type":"image\/png","title":"Morris Street Sanborn Map ","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/4817550003818d369607313e93b77817.jpg","description":"This composite of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map sheets from 1888 depicts buildings along Morris Street. By examining this document, we can understand what different buildings were used for and see how Morris Street became an economic center for Black Charlestonians. Courtesy of the University of South Carolina Libraries. "},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/c423bc14105124eb0465f3b04ac42bba.jpg":{"id":360,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"The Missionary Record","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/c423bc14105124eb0465f3b04ac42bba.jpg","description":"The <\/span>Missionary Record <\/span><\/i>was another Reconstruction-era establishment on Morris Street. This outspoken African American-owned newspaper operated out of a building on Morris Street and published political, economic, and religious news for southern African Americans. This copy of the <\/span>Missionary Record<\/span><\/i> was published on April 1, 1876. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. <\/span>"}}}