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Hampton Plantation State Historic Site (Charleston County, SC)

~Hampton Plantation~

1950 Rutledge Road, McClellanville, SC 29458
Phone: (843) 546-9361

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I was relieved when I heard that the Windy Fire of March 2011 didn’t damage Hampton Plantation State Historic Site — a two-and-a-half frame Georgian plantation house, that, according to the site’s National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form , became property of the State of South Carolina upon the death of South Carolina’s Poet Laureate, Archibald Rutledge. You can read more about Archibald Rutledge over at Kirk H. Neely’s blog. I’ll try and post some of his poetry soon.

But back to Hampton Plantation – it’s a lovely place, located on Wambaw Creek near the Santee River. It’s one of the South Carolina state sites involved in the Discover Carolina program, and as part of this program, Grade 3 and 5 students visit the historic site to learn about the early history of the state. From the South Carolina Department of Archives and History website:

Hampton, erected in 1735, greatly enlarged after 1757, and with final additions made in 1790-91, is an excellent example of a modest sized frame structure that evolved through organic growth into a large, unified Georgian frame country house. The structure includes one of the earliest examples of the use of the giant portico in American domestic architecture, and Hampton is South Carolina’s finest example of a large two-and-one-half story frame Georgian plantation house. The original house was a four-room center hall structure, with two more rooms on the second floor, built by Noe Serre, a Huguenot settler. The one-and-one-half story frame building on raised brick foundations was 40 feet long and 34 feet deep, and had two interior chimneys. In 1757, the plantation came into the possession of Daniel Horry through marriage, and shortly thereafter he more than doubled the size of the original house. A second full story was added and extensions made to both ends, bringing the structure to its present size. Thepresent hipped roof, with two dormers in front and rear, was built over the entire house, and each new wing had an interior chimney. In 1790-91, the south façade assumed its present unified appearance, when a six column wide giant portico and pediment were added across the center portion of the original house. Rosettes, panels, and flutings adorn the frieze of the portico, and the pediment contains a circular window with four keystones. Listed in the National Register April 15, 1970; Designated a National Historic Landmark April 15, 1970.

Historical, transcribed documents