On Nov. 2, 1853 Otis Mills opened the doors of his grand hotel. For almost a year workers had been toiling on the corner of Meeting and Queen Street, laboring to erect the five-story structure that would carry his name. No expense had been spared. Outside of the hotel ran a beautiful wrought-iron balcony imported from Philadelphia, the terra cotta window cornices selected from New England. Inside were 125 rooms, besides lodging the Mills House could also offer the luxury of piping in steam heat, and a even rarer commodity in the 19th century; running water. Architect John E. Earle had designed the building, but it was Mills who dreamed of the venture. It is claimed that he envisioned a respectable hotel for those who could not afford to pay the high prices being charged by the leading hotels in Charleston at this time.
Mills gambled a lot on the success of his hotel. As the chief financier he contributed almost $200,000 dollars (several million by modern standard) to this project. With so much invested, Mills hoped that the guests would be numerous, all pleased enough with their stay to spread the word.
He need not to have worried. The Mills House quickly became a Charleston institution. Travelers to the busy port city could always rely on the hotel for accommodations. When Charleston was selected to host the Democratic National Convention in 1860, it was quickly jammed with delegates. Diarist Mary Boykin Chestnut, whose wartime memoirs have garnered numerous awards, also stayed in the Mills House. General Robert E. Lee, during his tenure as commander of the Department, which encompassed S.C., had quarters in the hotel. As the carriage drivers passing it today will tell you, he was there when the great fire of 1861 burned through the city. Luckily, the Mills House escaped destruction in 1861, and was available for the dashing Creole General P.G.T Beauregard to use as his headquarters later in the Civil War.
After the Civil War, the hotel struggled, closing for a period, then reopening in 1870, and continuing until 1897 (This 1865 image shows the Meeting Street front of the then war ravaged hotel with several African American men out front).
Mrs. Lawton purchased the property, changed its name to St John Hotel, and went back into business. In 1901-1902 Charleston hosted the South Carolina and Interstate and West Indian Exposition, bringing many visitors into the city. One of them was none other than President Theodore Roosevelt, who was entertained at the St. John. It passed hands through the 1900’s several times, barley surviving a 1939 fire, and wound up nearly derelict in by the 1960’s. Unable to salvage the old structure, the building was razed. In 1970 the hotel reopened, under its first name, the Mills House. Besides using the original name, the developers enlarged the hotel, but managed to take it back to its antebellum appearance. In 2009, the Mills House still offers comfortable lodging in the heart of Charleston, serving as a base of operations for visitors from all over the world.
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Mills House, ca. 1865. Images From Library of Congress.
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