About the Charleston House

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The Charleston House, as it is called today, was a house constructed by H. H. Fuller at 956 Sixth Street. The house was a family home. Not much is known about the house and its evolution between 1890 and 1910. Major improvements included a kitchen and dining room shortly after 1910. Electricity, considered an invasion of the Devil in the English Edwardian period, was finally installed, as well as indoor plumbing (no out-house). To make servant’s jobs easier, a dumb waiter was installed later in this period.

The Fullers had a butler and a cook throughout its history. They also had live-in housekeepers that helped with the day-to-day functions of the house. According to the Coles County Historical Society, “the house was a symbol of elegance and southern hospitality.” Perhaps, the southern hospitality began before the Civil War. It was a place that the high-society gathered for fine

dining and recitals.

Over the next forty years after 1929, possibly after the Crash of the Market, the house became under the ownership of the Sigma Pi Fraternity, Beta-Gamma Chapter. The ownership transferred to Ida M Hammet, 1929-1940;  D N Snyder 1940-1945;  Ralph P Dallas, 1945;  John Driscoll, 1945; Marlon McMullen, 1945-1946;  John L Kitchen, 1946-1954; and David T Clancy, 1954.

“The Clancy’s sold the house to the Fraternity on 1 June 1954 for $13,000.”

The brotherhood took pride in its efforts to keep the property sound, stating “that the living conditions and students were safe and adequate.” An addition was built to the west and the Mother’s Suite was added. The porch with columns was added, in order to support the upper floors of the house’s roof. “The replacement costs were five times the price of the house,” but they were guaranteed in the late 1960s. A parking lot was also part of the change.

In the 1970s, the house was completely remodeled with new plaster, carpet, and new furnishings. The bathroom space was also changed many times. Fire suppression devices were installed and continue to be implemented for the protection of its boarders. Throughout the house, presently, you will find references to cornstalks. These images reflect the efforts of the house members, in the 1950s, working to raise money to fund the house renovations.

Each fall semester, members would go to local fields and offer their assistance in harvesting the corn crop. The members of the Fraternity, in addition to the corn harvest, would host a “Pay to Smash a Car” event. Members of the community and other chapters of the university would take a sludge-hammer to smash a car for a benefit of the chapter. The event, in the mid 1960s, paid off. When the mortgage was paid-off on 6 February 1965, the Beta-Gamma Chapter celebrated with a “Burning the Mortgage” celebration.

They finally owned the property at 956 Sixth Street!

The home to the south of the 956 property, on the corner of Polk and 6th , was considered the home for the most outstanding brothers of the fraternity. (Not much history is provided from this property.) While it was considered the ultimate conclusion to seniors or upstanding brothers of the Sigma Pi Fraternity after 1987, in the new age, it became the ultimate party house of Sigma Pi after 2000.

Over most of the house’s history, the attitude of 956 Sixth Street changed. It was a house for the affluent, a lumber company. Then it was acquired to house the students at Eastern, who paid to attend Eastern as a fraternity. Then, it returned to a house of hospitality by a former student of hospitality, Joshua Craig.

The Charleston House is a house of hospitality and desires to promote its hospitality that includes everyone. All humans are accepted to stay at the Charleston House.

The Charleston House has a history we cannot change. It is a house that promotes sustainability, fraternal devotion, excitement, and longevity. Today, the Charleston House means “life.” I believe that the Charleston House will provide everyone with a sense of its history. History will always evolve into new outcomes.

When you stay at the Charleston House, you will feel that you have embraced the original attitude of evolved southern hospitality, “Guests will always feel life; Remembering the Past, Embracing the Future.”