Clyburn Reed plans to restore historic building along Columbia’s Gervais Street
Chances are you might have driven past the small house at 1811 Gervais St. in Columbia numerous times without realizing it has deep, historic significance that stretches back nearly 150 years.
Now there are plans set to go before the city’s design board to restore the unassuming clapboard building to a condition that matches its notable status.
Retired educator Jennifer Clyburn Reed, daughter of longtime U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, bought the property at 1811 Gervais about a year ago. The building there — known as the Alston House — was built in 1872 and for many years served as a residence and dry goods store run by prominent African American businesswoman Caroline Alston. It was believed to be the first Black-woman-owned business in the city’s history. Alston sold the house in 1906.
On Thursday, the property will be considered for restoration efforts by the city’s Design/Development Review Commission. Work up for consideration for the 148-year-old house, according to city paperwork, includes rehabilitating windows, painting the building and rebuilding the front steps, among other repairs. There is a chimney in the back that is separating from the white clapboard house, and it is being proposed for removal. Two other chimneys on the property would remain.
The Alston House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, as noted by a marker along Gervais Street. The marker points out Alston was one of the few Black business owners in the city during that time period and was known for her “esteem and confidence” among Black and white customers.
Clyburn Reed said she is intrigued with restoring the historic gem.
“The historic significance, being an African American female, is huge,” Clyburn Reed told The State. “As we see across the country, with parts of our history disappearing or not being amplified enough where people actually know about it, it is imperative that pieces of history are kept.”
Clyburn Reed is hopeful that restorations will be completed by next year. She said her Magnolia Blossom SC nonprofit might be housed in the building once it’s completed, but adds she would be willing to entertain other ideas on how to utilize the property.
“It will be done in a very respectful way, and in a way that will honor the memory of Mrs. Alston,” Clyburn Reed said.
The retired educator took a State reporter on a tour of the house Monday morning, showing off the classic hardwood flooring and other features of a bygone era that are prominent inside.
In 1906, Alston sold the building to L.M. Keitt, an African American businessman who operated a grocery store on the site, according to a state Department of Archives and History web entry. The property was later home to McDuffie’s Antiques for many years.
Historians are pleased at the prospect of the coming restorations to the Alston House.
“Any time you can maintain tangible links to important periods, particularly watershed periods in our history, as well as identify trendsetters within those time periods, that’s an important thing,” said John Sherrer, director of cultural resources at Historic Columbia. “I’m very excited about it. From a preservation perspective, it shows that someone with a vision is doing the right thing.
“I think it is particularly important, or at least notable, that the person who is behind this is a person of color who is bringing it up under kind of the same spirit as the original owner. It’s a new chapter in the site’s future.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
