Tuesday, April 21, 2015

South Carolina Historical Marker #10-79

While we were exploring Charleston, I stopped at a number of South Carolina historical markers, including: Thomas Smith [#10-03], The Siege of Charleston, 1780 [#10-65], The Seizure of the Planter [#10-76], Kress Building [#10-79], Jonathan Jasper Wright Law Office [#10-82] and U.S. Courthouse and Post Office/Briggs V. Elliott [#10-85].

Kress Building/Civil Rights Sit-Ins
South Carolina Historical Marker #10-79

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This marker is located at 281 King Street, Charleston, South Carolina. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 32° 46.968 W 079° 56.059.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

South Carolina Historical Marker #10-79




This three-story Art Deco building, built in 1930-31 was a 5- and 10-cent store owned by S.H. Kress & Co. until 1980. Kress, with about 400 American stores, designed its own buildings. This store features a yellow brick facade with colorful and decorative glazed terracotta details typical of Kress’s Art Deco designs. A 1941 two-story addition faces Wentworth Street. McCrory Stores bought this building in 1980, operating it under the Kress name until 1992.

South Carolina Historical Marker #10-79



On April 1, 1960, the lunch counter here and those at the Woolworth’s and W.T. Grant’s stores on King St. were the targets of the city’s first civil rights “sit-in.” Black students from Burke High School were denied service but refused to leave. Arrested for trespassing, they were later convicted and fined. This youth-led protest was the beginning of a broader civil rights movement in Charleston.

South Carolina Historical Marker #10-79

South Carolina Historical Marker #10-79

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