Cuthbert House Beaufort, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA

National Register Description

The following text is courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

Built c. 1811, the Cuthbert House is typical of Beaufort architecture. Mounted on a raised foundation with central hallways on both floors extending from front to rear, the white clapboard house is designed to take advantage of the waterfront southwesterly breezes.

Facade has central, double-tiered portico supported by Tuscan columns. First floor entrance, surmounted by semi-elliptical fanlight and flanked by sidelights, has a pair of shuttered windows to either side. Alterations of the late 19th Century included addition of rooms, bay windows, Victorian trim and porches on either side of central portico.

House features excellent interior and exterior woodwork and retains its original fine proportions.

Garden at rear was planted with a variety of roses and a dozen orange trees which are said to have yielded several thousand oranges annually.

National Register Statement of Significance

The following text is courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

Architecturally, the Cuthbert house is typical of Beaufort's gracious waterfront homes and is an important component of The Beaufort Historic District. As one of a row of antebellum houses along Bay Street, the Cuthbert House must remain intact to preserve the charm and continuity of this historic area which, unlike most urban communities, consists of free standing houses on large wooded lots. The lots are frequently laid out in formal gardens. In his book, A Second Visit to the United States, renowned English scientist, Sir Charles Lyell, described this area as "an assemblage of villas," each of which was "shaded by a verandah, surrounded by beautiful live oaks and orange trees laden with fruit."

In Historic Beaufort, South Carolina: A Report On the Inventory of Historic Buildings 1968-69, prepared for the Historic Beaufort Foundation by Carl Feiss, F.A.I.A., A.I.P and Russell Wright, A.I.A., the Cuthbert House is given highest rating and the necessity of its being preserved is emphasized. The house is presently in danger of demolition.

John Alexander Cuthbert was born 1790 in St. Helena's Parish, South Carolina. In 1811, he married Mary B. Williamson of Prince William's Parish, South Carolina for whom this house was built. Part of his bride's dowry consisted of a number of slaves which were conveyed to John A. and Mary B. Cuthbert by the bride's father, William Williamson, on December 3, 1811. Lawrence Fay Brewster in Summer Migrations and Resorts of South Carolina Low-Country Planters mentions the Cuthbert House in his list of Beaufort town houses built by prominent planters of the area.

During the War Between the States, the Cuthbert House became the property of U.S. Army Brigadier-General Rufus Saxton. Henry Haithcock, Major and Assistant Adjutant, mentions the house in the following passage from his book Marching with Sherman:

"The General came to Beaufort on the 23rd of January and stayed one day quartering at General Saxton's. The latter owns the house he lives in -- a large fine double house on Bay Street fronting the sea. He bought it at one of the U.S. Tax Sales and I was told gave $1,000.00 for it."

General Saxton became director of freedmen affairs and cultivation in June 1862 when this responsibility was shifted from the Treasury to the War Department. It was Saxton's duty to take possession of abandoned plantations in the Beaufort area, set up regulations for their cultivation and protect the freedmen in their industry and products. He was sympathetic with the Negroes and hoped to carry out a social experiment which would mold freedmen into hard-working, independent citizens. He experienced great difficulty in managing the numerous plantations in his charge, and in 1863-1864 the government gave up the idea of a social experiment and began to auction or lease the plantations. After the land was disposed of, General Saxton continued his work with the Negroes by requiring the new plantation managers to set forth the terms of employment under which the freedmen would be expected to labor.