The Borough Houses

35 Calhoun Street, was constructed in 1852
by Irish immigrants and purchased in 1939 by Willis
Johnson, Sr., who was born a free man at Drayton
Hall Plantation, West Ashley. 35 Calhoun Street and
35-1/2 are two-story wood framed Charleston single
houses with red tin roofs containing 6 rooms and
2 bathrooms with side porches on each level.
35-1/2 Calhoun Street was built in 1940 by two of
Willis Johnson's sons, Frank and Henry as a test
for the completion of their carpentry apprenticeship
taught by Tom Pinckney, master craftsman.
35 Calhoun Street is currently owned by Rebecca
Campbell and Catherine Braxton, sisters and their
cousin, Esther Chandler, heirs of Willis Johnson.
These two single houses are among the last
vestiges of the "Bourough", a once vibrant
community of blacks and immigrants centered by
a low-income housing project, Ansonborough
Homes, hence the name, "the Bourough Houses".