Louie Tenement
Near this intersection is the site of Louie Tenement, a housing complex that served residents of North Charleston’s Liberty Hill community. Liberty Hill was established in 1871 as a settlement for formerly enslaved African Americans. The tenement near this site was developed c.1928 by Louis “Louie” Joseph (1876-1950), a Syrian immigrant who came to the U.S. from Damascus in 1901. He worked in Charleston as a peddler before moving to Liberty Hill by 1920.
Louie Tenement included around a dozen wood frame shotgun houses situated on roughly one-acre of land. It became a well-know Liberty Hill enclave and a valuable source of housing for local Black residents during segregation. Louis Joseph also operated a local grocery store. His 1950 death certificate listed his father’s surname as “Masphy.” The complex stood into the early 1970s, when houses began being demolished. None remained by the end of the 1980s.
Where it stands. Luella Ave. and Lester St., North Charleston, North Charleston