Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2017

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town hall
Even with its modern thermal windows and
high-tech design, the new Mount Pleasant Town
Hall gives a nostalgic nod to the Lowcountry’s
past, mixing 21st century architecture with 19th
century technique. Before the first plans were drawn, town
officials looked to the community and at its history for
ideas on the appearance of the new building, down to the
color of the brick.
A single brick displayed on an architect’s desk for
over 25 years helped seal the deal. Lauren Sims, executive
programs manager for the town of Mount Pleasant, gave
credit to Sam Herin, architect at Stubbs Muldrow Herin.
“It was his idea,” she said. “We knew we needed to
select a brick color for the building anyway, but one day
Sam came to a meeting with a brick and told us how
he acquired it and that it was actually made in Mount
Pleasant. He offered to get the brick color matched and
the decision was made.”
Sims said the new Town Hall is the physical
representation of everything that makes up the
community.
“It belongs to the community, and there was no
question that this building would be designed in such a
way that honored that,” Sims said.
With the help of SMHa, the brick color that was
chosen was a perfect fit. The color and style of bricks used
by the town match the very bricks once manufactured on
Boone Hall Plantation almost 200 years ago.
In 1811, Boone Hall was bought by brothers John
and Henry Horlbeck. Having been in the construction
industry and with the plantation located on a massive red
clay deposit, it seemed an ideal place to start a new venture
manufacturing bricks.
Michael Hedden, education and communications
coordinator at Boone Hall Plantation, said the brickyard
was started a few years after the Horlbeck brothers bought
the property and operated throughout the 19th century.
Later known as the Horlbeck Brick and Tile Company,
it consisted of several kilns, drying areas, a cistern and a
commissary.
Many people don’t realize that Brickyard Plantation
was once a part of Boone Hall Plantation and that “there’s
still a kiln standing in the very back of the neighborhood
BY DIANE PAULDINE
A
NostalgicNod
Bricks Reflect
Mount Pleasant’s
History
Photo by Brian Sherman.
Many people don’t realize that Brickyard Plantation was once a
part of Boone Hall Plantation. The kiln still stands at the back of
the neighborhood.
Architect Sam Herin and the brick that was the inspiration for
the bricks used for Mount Pleasant’s new Town Hall.
Photo by Denise K. James.