30 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com BY ANNE TOOLE A Generational Gem History of the newly renovated Alhambra Hall Imagine Mount Pleasant before there was a bridge spanning the waters to downtown Charleston. It was a time of ferries plying across the harbor, bringing visitors to Mount Pleasant, where they could then take a trolley to Sullivan’s Island or beyond to the Isle of Palms. It was during this era, circa 1847, that the owners of Mount Pleasant Ferry Company purchased a grove of oaks in Hort’s Grove to develop a picnic ground. Articles paint a picture of a calm, shady retreat dotted with swings and note that a traveling carousel would occasionally visit. The owners ran a ferry from Charleston to the foot of Ferry Street to encourage visitors to enjoy the octagonal dancing pavilion, picnic grounds and small bowling alley. In 1929, the panoramic view from the picnic grounds forever changed when the Grace Memorial Bridge was built. The iconic bridge decimated the ferry industry, rendering many of the wharves and ferry buildings obsolete. An event hall was built in 1937 using timber from the abandoned Hog Island Ferry building and wharf. The historic charm of its gabled roof, wraparound porches, double staircase, vaulted ceiling and exposed rafters has remained largely unchanged, though renovations and
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