The Florence County/Municipal Historical Commission has voted unanimously to find historical significance in homes on East Pine and West Palmetto streets that owners have applied to demolish.
The commission determines whether a building has historical significance when a structure’s owner applies for a demolition permit. It can delay the issuance of a permit for 30 to 60 days based on its findings.
Commission chairman Marshall Yarborough said Monday that the houses — one of which has stood for more than a century — have retained their architectural integrity.
Commissioner Mark Buyck III said the houses are significant for their arts-and-crafts style, popular in the early 20th century.
“It’s the type of house that we’re losing downtown,” he told the commission.
One of the houses, at 115 E. Pine St., was built in 1905, Yarborough said. A fire has caused some damage to the home, but Yarborough said the structure’s original floor plan seems to remain intact.
The other house, at 611 W. Palmetto St., was built in 1923. Although it has had many additions, including a shed in the back and a wheelchair ramp, a great deal of the house remains in its original state, Yarborough said.
The commission also voted unanimously Monday to find no historical significance in a house at 605 W. Palmetto St., next door to 611 W. Palmetto St. The building was once a Seventh-day Adventist church, but the interior is now a “gutted mess,” Yarborough said.
Four commissioners also have formed a committee to work on a resolution recognizing the historical significance of a former Civil War fort along the Great Pee Dee River.
The site in question is Camp Reliance, also known as Fort Finger. It was an earthen, Civil War-era fortification that stood along the river near the site of a now-proposed Santee Cooper power plant in Kingsburg.
An application for the site to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places would require the work of an archaeologist or consultant, commissioner Peggy Brown said.
Brown and commissioners Buyck, Jack Dowis and Sandy Kendall will serve on the committee.
An archaeologist’s report states that there are no plans to disturb the site but recommends a memorandum of agreement to help ensure preservation. The memorandum will be between Santee Cooper and the S.C. Department of Archives and History.
The commission also will consider whether prehistoric artifacts, such as a piece of an arrowhead, would contribute to the historical significance of the entire site.
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