I am sure you are asking yourself what a tragic fire in Camden, South Carolina, has to do with Darlington County.
Background
On the evening of May 17, 1923, between 250 and 300 people gathered on the two-story Cleveland school’s second floor. The area was used as an assembly area for what was already planned to be the last official event at the school as it was scheduled to be closed the next day. That year’s graduating students perform a play called “Topsy Turvy.” All was well until the beginning of the last act. That’s when an oil lamp lighting the stage fell from its mount, spilled oil, and ignited the stage curtains.
Cleveland School, Camden, South Carolina – prior to the fire on May 17, 1923.
Within moments, the fire spread through the room and students, parents, teachers, and others rushed to the only exit: a stairway back down to a first-floor coat room with a door that opened inward. People jammed the stairwell that fell under the weight of those on it. Some people managed to jump — or even be thrown out — the second-story windows. In the end, 77 men, women and children died. Only 10 were positively identified; the other 67 were buried in a mass grave at nearby Beulah United Methodist Church (UMC). The tragedy devastated the surrounding community and the rest of the county for decades. Still, it also led to changes in building and fire codes for schools nationwide in the hope that they would at least mitigate, if not avoid, tragedies like the Cleveland School fire from happening again.
Charles Coker Wilson
A local Darlington County-born architect, Charles Coker Wilson, served as the first chairman of the South Carolina Board of Architectural Examiners, and was instrumental in drafting the state’s first building codes.
Wilson was born on November 20, 1864, in Hartsville to Dr. Furman Edwards Wilson and Jane Lide Coker. He earned an A.B. in civil engineering in 1886 and a C.E. degree in 1888 from South Carolina College. Beginning his career as a railroad engineer in Columbia and Roanoke, Virginia, Wilson entered architectural practice in 1891 in Roanoke.
He relocated to Columbia, SC, and is arguably the state’s most significant and influential early twentieth-century architect. His practice was regional and varied, and his office was perhaps the first in the state to encompass all disciplines involved in building construction, reflecting more than most of the complexities of modern architectural practice. In 1914, Wilson became the first twentieth-century South Carolinian to be named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects after being elected the South Carolina chapter’s charter president the previous year.
Darlington County Historical Commission & Museum
204 Hewitt Street, Darlington, SC 29532
843-398-4710 | dchc@darcosc.net
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