128 Logan Street

128 Logan Street is located in the Old and Historic District in the Harleston Village neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina and is in the fourth ward. A part of the original walled city of Charleston, this property was a part of the plot of land owned by Isaac Mazyck in 1742 in a two acre parcel labeled “for M.G.” This property has gone by many different names, including 128 Logan, 52 Mazyck, 20 Mazyck, and 16 Mazyck, among others. The building that stands today was likely constructed in 1880 and is featured in the 1888, 1902, 1944, and 1951 Sanborn Maps. 

The part of Logan Street on which the structure resides was originally called Mazyck Street, named for Isaac Mazyck, a Protestant merchant who immigrated to Charleston from France in 1686 and purchased about thirty-five acres of land on the peninsula. The original Logan Street was opened in 1803 and was commissioned by the Orphan House. Named for “Wm. Logan, Esq.,” whose land the street intersected, Logan Street ran from Tradd Street  to Broad Street until it was changed to incorporate what was once Mazyck Street in 1920.

The current structure at 128 Logan Street is a two-story, two-bay, frame-constructed Charleston Single House on a brick foundation. The structure has six-over-six sash windows and a standing seam metal roof, as well as a brick chimney on its west side. The structure has had very little exterior alteration since its construction; the only changes noted by the Charleston Board of Architectural Review (BAR) were repairs to the wood on the facade, the removal of a rear chimney, and weatherproofing methods, such as a modern recoating of the roof and updated paint. The BAR denied a change in the setback of the porch in 1992, which was the only major proposed alteration, giving it a strong sense of architectural integrity. According to photos, the piazza may be a newer renovation, as in 1992 the shape of the piazza was there, though filled in to create an additional bay.

Due to ward four’s association with vice and “otherness,” it is often interpreted in Charleston histories as something “wicked” or “taboo.” There are few modern written records of the history of the red light district, leaving primary sources to do the majority of the work; namely, the Charleston “Blue Book” that documents the names of Madames and the addresses of their brothels, as well as the 1902 Sanborn Map that lists certain dwellings as “F.B.,” otherwise known as “Female Boarding,” which was a polite term for a brothel. To distance the neighborhood from its vice-filled past, many of the street names were changed and in 1920, Mazyck Street was incorporated into an extension of Logan Street as it sits today. Though 128 Logan Street appears to have little ties to the vice of ward four, the properties may have been more affordable because of that association and, therefore, may have been an appealing investment, especially to owners that never personally resided in the house.

Though the property as a whole did not offer up any evidence of vice or of being a brothel, there is a small indication that two Madam’s may have occupied the home in two separate years. Though difficult to corroborate this evidence because of the numerous address changes, there are two city directories that list these women as occupants.  The first, “Madam Gene Roland,” was listed as the occupant of “16 Mazyck,” one of the property’s former names, in 1915.  “Madam Maud Martin,” the second presumed prostitute, was listed as an occupant of “16 Mazyck” in 1916. Though not concrete evidence, it would not be a stretch to say that these women did briefly occupy the space, given the neighborhood’s associations.

Dutch Town came to Charleston in the 1750s and was prompted by a short-lived, mass-migration of German Immigrants to the city.  While some remain, many of the German residents relocated by the 1790s.  According to Nic Butler of the Charleston County Public Library, “As the eighteenth century drew to a close, Dutch Town became less Deutsche, but it continued to be a modest working-class neighborhood inhabited by people on the lower end of the socio-economic ladder.”

Dutch Town was originally comprised of eight half-acre lots that, though mostly rural, contained part of Charleston’s fortifications. From the beginning, this area was owned by only a handful of men.  According to Butler, 

“James Allen… owned four contiguous “Grand Model” lots between King and Archdale Streets, numbered 254, 255, 260, and 261.  Immediately north of Mr. Allen’s lots, Richard Beresford also owned four contiguous lots between King and Archdale Streets, numbered 256, 257, 258, and 259.  To the north of Mr. Beresford, there were a few other lots, but they were either partially or totally obscured by the line of fortifications constructed in 1745.  Similarly, there was some vacant land to the west of Archdale Street, but there was also a public powder magazine, a Work House, a Poor House, a public burying ground, and the southwestward continuation of the new fortifications.  That area, around what is now Magazine Street, would be developed later, after the American Revolution…”

This quote provides insight, not only into the important names associated with Dutch Town’s beginnings, but also how the population grew and developed over time.

128 Logan Street is currently owned by Daniel Leahy who purchased the property from Jane Davis in 2004 for $386,000.  Prior to this transaction, the property changed hands six different times between 1990 and 1999, though only the most recent two of these appear to have been true sales.

Prior to 1990, the property went through numerous phases of ownership, both privately and publicly.  Though there were many owners, a handful stick out within the chain of title who have helped to shape the property’s narrative.

Ann Hall

Ann Hall, listed as owning the property somewhere between 1842 and 1868, has a brief, but interesting, history with 20 Mazyck Street (as it was listed at the time of her ownership).  According to a deed found in ROD Deed Book Q10, page 168, Ann Hall purchased the property from Joseph Aubin for $2,850. It was interesting to find Ann Hall as the sole purchaser of the property, especially since it is sold in 1868 by both Ann and her husband Alfred Hall. Aside from the two deeds that mention Ann’s affiliation with the property, the only mention of 20 Mazyck is in the transcribed 1861 census, when “Mrs. Ann Hall” is listed as the owner with “slaves” listed as occupant.

J.W. (I.N.) Nunan

J.W. Nunan, sometimes listed as I.N. Nunan, owned the property from 1868, when he purchased it from Ann and Alfred Hall, as listed in ROD Deed Book D15 page 125, to 1871.  Upon Nunan’s sale of the property is the first time that the property fits the same dimensions as it is listed for most of history; 27 by 125 feet. 

J.W. Nunan appears to have gone by many different iterations of his name, from alternate spellings of his last name (“Nunan,” “Nunen,” “Noonan,” “Newnan,”) to variations on his first name (“J.W.,” “I.N.,” “John W.,” “John,”) making following his whereabouts more difficult than most.  With the aid of the power of deduction, Nunan was a Confederate Sergeant in the Civil War, as well as the city detective after the war’s end.

Chas. E. Miller

Chas. E. Miller purchased the property from J.W. Nunan in 1871 for $1,000, as noted in ROD Deed Book A16 on page 273. Miller, similarly to Nunan, was difficult to track down.  It appears that Miller may have been a constable who, depending on the document, may either have been of mixed-race, or had a mixed-race child who was also named Chas. E. Miller.

A.F. Doscher

A.F. Doscher was, perhaps, the most prominent owner of the property.  He purchased the property from Chas. E. Miller in 1887 for $1,525, as noted in ROD Deed Book H19, page 151.  There was no discernible end date to A.F. Doscher’s ownership of the property because he seemingly passed the structure down through his family after his death, and it continued to be owned by members of the Doscher family through 1942.

Doscher’s extended ownership is not the only thing that makes his time as owner important, however.  August Friedrich (A.F.) Doscher was a german-born immigrant to Charleston who was a part of the later German migration to Dutch Town. Listed in city records as being simply a “grocer,” A.F. accomplished much more than that in his time in Charleston.  Doscher owned and operated Doscher’s grocery stores, a family-run local chain that was still prominent in the area until recently.  Today, there is only one Doscher’s in operation, though the City of Charleston has declared a holiday called “Doscher Day” in August to celebrate the family’s local legacy.

Though not necessarily unique in structure nor history, 128 Logan Street is a superb example of architecture and property that has withstood the tests of time.  Aside from a few familial lapses in paperwork, the structure is incredibly well-documented and has remained incredibly similar throughout time.  Because of this, 128 Logan Street gives excellent insight into the phases of occupation of Ward Four, from Dutch Town into today, as well as a look into what the red-light district of Charleston looked like from a property with little to no association with vice.

Sources:

“128 Logan Street.” File. Charleston County Board of Architectural Review Archives. Accessed October 27, 2022

1742 Plat of Charleston, South Carolina by Isaac Mazyck.  Courtesy of Charleston Register of Deeds, 2022.

Butler, Nic. “Dutch Town.” Charleston County Public Library, July 10, 2020. https://www.ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine/dutch-town. 

“Charleston Streets.” Charleston County Public Library, compiled by E. Milby Burton. 1900.

Charleston County Register of Deeds Office. Accessed 2022.

Ford, Frederick A. “Transcribed 1861 Census.” Documenting the American South. University of 

North Carolina Chapel Hill, October 20, 2000. https://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/census/census.html. 

“Local since 1886.” Post and Courier. The Post and Courier, November 2, 2016. https://www.postandcourier.com/food/local-since-1886/article_a907f416-f5e3-5038-bbfe-1f1e42fe430d.html. 

“Public Records.” Ancestry Library. Accessed December 1, 2022. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/LearningCenter. 

“Real Property Record Search.” City of Charleston. Accessed October 27, 2022. https://sc-charleston.publicaccessnow.com/RealPropertyRecordSearch/RealPropertyInfo.aspx?p=4570802088.

Sanborn Map Company. Charleston, South Carolina, 1902. New York: Sanborn Map & Publishing Co, 1902. "Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps." https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn08124_003/.

“U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.” Ancestry. Accessed November 28, 2022.https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/. 

Ward Books. Microfilm. Charleston County Public Library. Accessed 2022.