The Bank of Charleston

In 1832 Andrew Jackson was president of the United States, and nationalism was on the ascendant. That was the year the Bank of Charleston sported a federal eagle on the roof-face of its two-story building on Broad Street. It is the second tall structure from the left in this photograph, taken on or about May 8, 1865. During the Federal occupation, the bank building was occupied by U.S. treasury agents and quartermaster clerks. Northerners rummaging about the city scavenged the building for souvenirs. One of them recorded, “The rooms upon the second floor, were piled knee-deep with old bank accounts, notes, bills of exchange, papers of every description, and of the least possible intrinsic value. Here the mania for ‘relics’ ran high. Dozens of curiosity-hunters were bending over them on hands and knees, untying old yellow and dusty bundles, selecting ancient and curious documents, and duly bestowing them in the voluminous depths of coat pockets, or carrying them off tenderly under the arm. Occasionally could be heard, ‘ah! here’s a prize! only look! 1730, 1760,’ etc.”

This is the caption as printed in 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Charleston in the War. It has not yet been through this site’s research and fact-checking pass.