ENDANGERED PLACES
Program
The Endangered Places Advocacy component is vital to the success of the Fund. It supports staff to seek out partnerships with community development organizations/ other preservation groups/ individuals, to communicate the economic advantages of preservation, to encourage preservation and adaptive reuse vs. destruction, to provide technical support to community leaders seeking to save a particular building, and to locate vulnerable properties for investment that have failed in the marketplace.
The Endangered Places Revolving Fund is the essential tool designed to intervene in threatened properties through purchase, lease, financing or stabilization of properties. The goal is to aid responsible owners or put property in the hands of preservation-minded owners who will be responsible for the rehabilitation.
To date, more than 40 properties have been protected by the program.
Preservation SC's Endangered Places Program was created in 1996 as a part of the organization's initiative to support historic preservation in communities across South Carolina. The program is made up of two components: the Endangered Places Revolving Fund, and Endangered Places Advocacy.
Current Revolving Fund Property
In February 2025, we announced our acquisition of the E.T. West House through our Revolving Fund, made possible by a substantial appropriation from the SC General Assembly in 2024 and the support of our members.
Located in Darlington's West Board Street Historic District, this house is one of numerous properties within the district designed and built by Lawrence Reese, a self-taught Black carpenter, architect, and entrepreneur. Reese's homes are distinguished by their intricate woodwork and elaborate Gothic-style architectural elements, as seen in this circa 1890 Queen Anne Victorian residence. The property features five bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 12-14' ceilings, eight ornate fireplaces, French doors, and two balconies, with stained glass windows throughout. This house is one of 14 buildings Reese designed and built in the district, earning the nickname Reese Row.
What's next? We are working with experienced local builders to do immediate repairs and stabilization measures on the front balconies before locating a new owner to care for this historic property.
PAST REVOLVING FUND PROPERTIES
Good Hope Baptist Church
Eastover, Richland County
Listed in the National Register 1986.
The church, which had been dormant for years, was donated to Preservation South Carolina with the stipulation that the structure must always remain intact. In less than a month, a buyer was found, a large nearby Black community eager to find a permanent place of worship for their congregants.
Ruff Cobb House
Newberry County
Listed in the National Register 1980.
This ca. 1850 home was donated to Preservation SC in July 2020. It was sold to a preservation-minded owner in 2021, who has since restored the property.
Mt. Olivet Church
Newberry County
Listed in the National Register 1982.
This church was donated to Preservation SC in 2022 due to a dwindled congregation. It was sold the same year to a local congregation in need of a worship space.
Coogler-Meetze House
Lexington County
This historic home is thought to be one of the oldest in Lexington County, built around 1790 by John Uriah Coogler. In 2015, with pressure from impending development, the owners contacted PSC to save the house from destruction. In October of 2015, PSC and the Dutch Fork Historical Society collaborated in moving the house from its location to Main Street in Lexington.
Wilkins House
Greenville County
Listed on the National Register in 2016
The Wilkins House was built in 1878 by Greenville builder Jacob Cagle for William Wilkins and his wife Harriett Cleveland Wilkins.
You can support the Revolving Fund Program with gifts of property or donations that will support the management of the program.
Contact us to learn more.
