i CHARLESTON CONTRADICTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF ...

archeological, and military significance. Yellowstone National Park was established in
1872 and the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was established in
1890. The National Antiquities Act of 1906 established National Monuments with the
intent of saving sensitive archeological sites, particularly in the western half of the
country. The first National Monument was the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, designated in
1906. It is interesting to note that while many of the significant buildings in the United
States were located in the eastern half of the country (because the original English
colonies were located there), the first efforts of the federal government were centered
elsewhere (Tyler 2009, 28-33).
As the federal government finally began to get involved in historic preservation in
the early twentieth century, private preservation efforts began to increase as well. The
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now known as Historic New
England) was formed in Boston in 1910 around the efforts to save the 1798 Harrison
Gray Otis House. It was the first organization that recognized architectural significance,
starting with the first Otis House, designed by Charles Bulfinch, architect of the
Massachusetts State Capitol building and several other state capitols. In Charleston,
Susan Pringle Frost, concerned with the loss and alteration of old buildings in her
hometown, organized the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings (now known as
the Preservation Society of Charleston) in 1920 (Weyeneth 2004, 266).
In the first quarter of the twentieth century, private individuals with means were
beginning to get involved with the historic preservation movement as well. In 1927, the
Rockefeller family began the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.
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