Designed by one of the earliest American-born architects of renown the County Records Building in Charleston, otherwise known as the Fireproof Building, was specifically built to avoid fires, but in the end it was almost devoured by one.
The building was constructed in 1827 for the expressed purpose of storing county records. In order to keep the delicate paper files safe from the much-more-common-and-devastating-in-those-days effects of fire, the entire structure was built to be fireproof. Using simple and linear thinking, the architect simply constructed the building without using any flammable materials. The walls and frame was made of pure masonry, and the doors, window frames, and even the shutters were made of iron.
Despite this hearty construction, eventually a fire still managed to break out on the upper floors of the building destroy a good portion of the interior. However, true to its name, the Fireproof Building did in fact manage to save the records held on the lower floors thanks to its stony construction.
Today the building still stands and now houses the South Carolina Historical Society who have managed to get the building protected as a national landmark. It is now more than just fireproof.
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