William Hasley Sites

The historic Dock Street Theater, known as America's First Theater, in Charleston, South Carolina, was the subject of a massive Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and Works Project Administration (WPA) renovation project between 1935 and 1937. The structure was designed by the local architecture firm Simons & Lapham. CharlestonStage.com: After the Civil War, the Planter's Hotel fell into disrepair and was slated for demolition. But in 1935, after Milton Pearlstine made the property available to the City of Charleston and at the urging of Mayor Burnet Maybank and other notable citizens, the original building became a Depression Era WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. At that...