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Randall Hill / Reuters
A circular driveway leads to the main house at Silver Hill Plantation in Georgetown, S.C., Feb. 17. The house was restored in 1999 by the current owners of the property. Silver Hill is listed for sale with Friendfield Plantation that includes 3264 acres of land along the marsh outside of in Georgetown, S.C. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, more than a half-dozen antebellum plantations, which don't change hands often, are for sale.
Randall Hill / Reuters
Grounds manager Ed Carter walks down the stairway in the main house at Silver Hill Plantation in Georgetown, S.C, Feb. 17. Carter has worked on the property for 22 years and has collected a working history from his years of service.
A plantation "is not for everybody," Charleston real estate broker Helen Geer said. "These places are very, very expensive to take care of, and people are cash-strapped right now."
At least eight plantations currently are for sale. They can be found at the end of gated, long dirt roads overhung by grand, centuries-old live oaks draped in Spanish moss.
-- Reported by Reuters
Randall Hill / Reuters
Friendfield Plantation grounds manager Ed Carter, left, and realtor Chip Hall of Plantation Services, Inc., stand in the front entrance of the main house at Silver Hill Plantation in Georgetown, S.C., Feb. 17. Silver Hill is listed for sale with Friendfield Plantation and includes 3264 acres of land along the marsh outside of Georgetown.
Randall Hill / Reuters
The view from a porch overlooks the former rice fields at the main house at Silver Hill Plantation, in Georgetown, S.C., Feb. 17.
Randall Hill / Reuters
Realtor Chip Hall of Plantation Services, Inc. and Friendfield Plantation grounds manager Ed Carter walk to the main house at Friendfield Plantation in Georgetown, S.C., Feb. 17. The main plantation house at Friendfield was built in 1790 but burned in the 1920s. This house was built in 1930 on the foundation of the original plantation house.
Randall Hill / Reuters
Friendfield Plantation custodian Vanessa Robinson cleans a study at Friendfield Plantation in Georgetown, S.C., Feb. 17. She has worked at the plantation for the last 9 years. The plantation has ties to Michelle Obama's family in South Carolina. According to plantation staff, Obama's great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, was a slave at Friendfield Plantation.
Randall Hill / Reuters
Layers of wall coverings peel from the walls of the slave quarters at Friendfield Plantation, in Georgetown, S.C., Feb. 17, 2012. The buildings used up to the 1970s and were homes of the plantation workers and sharechoppers.
Randall Hill / Reuters
A grave stone with just the first name of Jane shows the passage of time at the slave cemetery at Friendfield Plantation in Georgetown, S.C., Feb. 17. According to the 1860 census, 273 slaves lived at Friendfield Plantation.
Randall Hill / Reuters
Medway Plantation property manager Bob Hortman and his dog Cooper, stand by the main plantation house in Goose Creek, S.C., Feb. 17. Hortman has lived and worked on the property for 34 years and oversees the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the plantation. Medway Plantation has 6728 total acres of land with 50 miles of maintained roads. The main building was built in 1686 and is the oldest brick structure in South Carolina.
Randall Hill / Reuters
Garden worker Carolyn F. Mack takes a short break from her duties at Medway Plantation in Goose Creek, S.C., Feb. 17. Mack has worked at the plantation for the last 16 years, taking over a job previously held by her mother Janie Freeman who worked at the plantation for 22 years.
Randall Hill / Reuters
A sculpture adorns the front grounds at Medway Plantation in Goose Creek, S.C., Feb. 17.
Randall Hill / Reuters
The late afternoon sunset reflects over a retention pond on the property at Medway Plantation in Goose Creek, S.C., Feb. 17. The plantation contains 6,728 acres of land and is staffed by 7 full-time employees. Upkeep on the property can run as high as $500,000 a year.
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Fascinating story and pictures. Well done.
Only fascinating thing is why did they take a picture of the garden worker with that thing on her head? She looked like a slave. They really do need to be more sensitive.
Maybe because that is what she wears when she works.
Maybe you need to be a little less sensitive, John. Perhaps she just wears that because she likes to, a lot of people wear little hats like that. It was a fascinating story and some of the pictures where beautiful!
Boo hoo whoa is me! I can't afford to keep my 20 million dollar mansion. Just the free market trickling upwards.
Wearing a covering over your hair is a West African cultural trait that has persisted down through the generations; it is still ubiquitous across West Africa today, and is still often seen among the descendants of West Africans in the Americans, more so in the rural south than in the urban north or west. Lovely story. Too bad there isn't a way to preserve these lands and homes without having to find wealthy owners.
To me, she simply looks like a lovely, proud woman.
She's exercising her free right to wear whatever she wants on her head.
Why do liberals always have to inject pity into everything and ruin it....
How are you so sure that John Sixty is a Liberal? And even if he is, isn't he free to express his opinion? I am African-American and I understand what she was wearing but John is also correct, it does present the optics of her being a "servant" or "slave". However, African-American women of her era and in that part of the country do wear head coverings of that sort. Yet John Sixty was not being over sensitive as far as I am concerned; he was expressing what he saw in the photo.
LB The real question is: Why do A__holes like you have to denigrate anyone who ask a simple question and try to start a fight and ruin it for every one else. Get a life or better yet get off and let us enjoy our reading.
@Kathy, yes it was a West African (and other parts of Africa, too) trait to cover the head with colorful material -- not bandanas as we see in the picture, but here in the US, female slaves were subjected to the "Bandana Law" which stated that all females slaves must cover their heads with bandanas to identify them as slaves --- and they could not be removed without permission. There was a reason for it, but I won't elaborate.
The coverings they wore in Africa were colorful and ornate, and could be removed at will.
They are gorgeous properties and are quiet and idyllic. I've been to some of them and traveled on the back-roads of SC and seen numerous plantations. I always think of the history, it is fascinating. Despite many of them built and maintained by slave labor, they are still amazing pieces of history and it obviously took quite a bit of effort. It is unfortunate that they cost so much to maintain now but that is how it is.
Beauty of this nature doesn't deserve whiners and complainers commenting about minutia in the pictures or the vehement comments that follow.
Isn't awfully ironic that the two managers are white and the laborers are of African descent...I hope they get paid good...By rights these plantations should have been inherited by the slaves who toiled and died there...Instead they stay in the hands of the rich.. Disgusting....The meak shall inherit my kingdom or something to that nature was once said..
This reminds me of the quote from "Midnight in the Garden of Good an Evil" where Jim Williams, antique dealer, is asked where he gets such wonderful antiques from old Savannah families.
"They sell them to me when they lose their money - and they ALWAYS lose their money - and then they have nothing left except their exquisite manners."
At least they still have their exquisite manners.
Maybe philanthropists would be interested in buying these properties and turning them into museums of African-American history.
Or better yet bob, why don't we just burn the @!$%#ers to the damn ground?
Bob, These are true treasures. They will be bought or donated and serve going forward as museums of a life mostly gone by. Some for good reason and some that it is a shame to see pass.
To keep these beautiful homes and acreage away from developers, perhaps the state of SC should consider putting them on the Historic Registry and letting the state preserve them. When and if SC ever gets any money, that is. Or perhaps the National Historic Registry. It would be sad to lose them.
You forget that Tea Bagger Nikki Haley is Governor of SC, she would never spend a dime to preserve anything. Might be why her approval ratings are in the 30's and people in SC are having buyers remorse.
Well said Optomyst these homes have a lot of history that could benefit future generations. Wish I had the ability I'd do it.
To all those that think this these should be preserved by the state I say why? Those like Medway are already under convervation easments and Friendfield is right next to the paper plant in Georgetown. There's already state owned properties that were former plantations left and right around Georgetown. Hobcaw Barony, Brookgreen, South Island Reserve. They don't need to spend anyone's tax money buying any more. You urbanites just enjoy the scenery and let these properties stew in the market. Someone will buy them.
Tear it down for what? Another Walmart or apartment complexes. Nobody cares about preserving this old relics.
Glad I don't have to pay the taxes on those!
While the history of these homes doesn't particularly sit well with people, it is the history of the United States and should be preserved. I know there are those that will argue that SC was the first state to secede so why preserve properties that have such negative histories? I would argue that we should not destroy these properties, as a reminder of the horrific past, so we may never repeat it in any way, shape, or form.
Just what this country needs....another museum. States nor the feds have the resources for another museum. They can't afford to properly maintain all the existing museums and parks let alone staff them all.
Wanna sell these properties? At a bargain price, give each buyer 40 acres and a mule and a double-wide trailer. Preserve the current buildings as community centers for libraries, bread and breakfasts, etc. Buy a piece of history and meet neighbors on your own terms whenever or if ever you feel like it. Otherwise, you have enough land around your trailer to keep things private for yourself. Grow cotton, grow rice, grow sugar, or just let the weeds take over. Hell, make moonshine, but keep that quiet. :-)
Looks just like my last house, with the economy like it is, I had to downsize, we just have just 5,000 sf and 1,000 acres now. Hard to be poor.
Plantations in the Deep South are important to African American history and culture. These lands should be continued to be preserved and maintained. Why not turn these vacant unaffordable plantations into museums and public lands. There are many African-Americans that is still interested in tracing their history. And this is after all still part of American history no matter how difficult it may appear to some. Going back to a plantation in which your family may have been a former slave makes the history that much more vivid and real.
I'd love to see some, if not all of these plantations used as troubled youth centers.. They are secluded and free of distraction, and offer alot of opportunaty to teach youth the history of their southern culture. With the needed upkeep, they offer a chance to teach them skills also.
"Troubled youth center" meaning a boarding house.
So Doc, you want to fill these house up with poor black children that have to do manual labor for no pay? Ironic :)
Distractions, like that pesky freedom to live life as you see fit, are part of life. They need to learn to deal with these distractions if they want to fit into society, not run and hide.
@hubba, how did you get "black" youths from "troubled" youths, which is what Docsuby said?
Plantation up-keep would fall under un-skilled labor...Besides the point of your idea trying to trick people into modern day slavery...You should run for president on the GOP ticket...They are pretty good at masking true intentions with crafty wording and trickery also, but you even do it better... What's up Doc ? Did you think at all before making that comment ? Or were you being insensitive and cruel on purpose ? And I know you didn't say black kids but Troubled, Urban , Inner-city and many other racist code words are known to exist..And even if that is not what you meant I am sure " troubled " kids of any race would take offense to being put on a plantation to work for free...Bottom line you made a very inflammatory comment.
@kat, commonsense first of all. I have lived in SC and know that the blacks there are the most downtrodden, poor, and likely to commit crimes. Also, here are some statistical facts from the state if you want to get fussy.
If 65% of inmates in SC are black then the most likely person to go to a troubled youth facility is black. Nice job at trying to troll me for being racist though, I am not.
Here's a golden chance for all of those hard working republicans claiming they pay more than 50% of their income in taxes (that makes them rich) to buy a spot for their trailers...yeehaw
It will NEVER Happen again so don't worry bout that.
True dat, willtill!
If the plantation can't pay for itself and support itself it is over priced.
Just an ego trip for stupid rich people
With proper management these plantations can support themselves. The mansions can be converted into bed and breakfast inns, hunting lodges, or retreat facilities. Some of the acreage can be placed in timber, some into wildlife preserves, and putting some of the land into a conservation easement gives the owner a tax break while preserving the property. A local realtor will explain all these options to a prospective purchaser.
carolart, thanks for explaining it for me.
All it takes is a little imagination - imagine this plantation as the setting for bird-watching weekends, painting and photography workshops, nature tour weekends . . . .offer beautiful accommodations, lots of traditonal southern cooking, bring in experts on painting, photography, southern history, naturalists, etc., charge $300 - $400 per person . . . think about it . . ..
Who the h. has money to spend at those cost. Oh, the 1%
if i had the cash i would buy one and grow cotton.
Painful reminder of past. So much blood, sweat and tears, and death at the hand of the original owners. Such an ugly past.
I sense the free market wants low income tract housing and some strip malls.
They're astonishingly beautiful houses. If I was rich, I wouldn't mind owning one. And as far as history goes... it's our most painful parts are those that carry the deepest lessons and should be remembered.
There is such beauty in the Carolina low country. And, there is such an intense American experience there.
If the rich can afford to keep these plantations, I hope they do.
In my opinion, the Carolinas and Virginia are the real birthplace of America. Immigrants were coming into this country through Virginia long before the wave of immigrants came to New York. Some came unwillingly, as slaves. Some came as indentured servants, as convicts, as rich men intent on exploiting, and some came to escape the misery of the British Isles. Also, there is an under recognize population of various origins that drifted to shore from the trade islands.Some were traders with ships who settled on land.
If you have ancestry that goes back 200, or more, years in America, you are likely to be a mixture of the varied ethnic lines that came through this area, or of those that were already there. For good, or for bad, it was an exotic and intense part of our American history.
And, the low country is so beautiful!
Reminds me of Rick Santorum's EQUALITY is a Judeo-Christian ethic statement.
Notice how equal the main house and the slave/share-cropper huts were.
Well, no greg. I notice how you have compared a mansion that is kept up by a staff of many (at great cost), to a wall in a building that has been unoccupied for 40 years...
Also noticed that you were just using this story to grind your personal ax against religion and republicans.
Riiggghhhtt---So in your opinion the slave quarters and the main house were equal accommodations during the operation of the plantation prior to 1865 ? And yes the protestant version of the Bible did advocate slavery and Africans as an underclass( see the passages relating to Ham)...You are in denial..Which most bigots are to the public , but inside their minds and in the privacy of their lily white society they know how they really feel...And your true feelings are leaking out in your comment..
And let us not forget that share croppers lived there until the 70's ...Racism and bigotry is very much alive..
Only the .1% can live here. Maybe Romney can buy a few and give them to his Nascar friends.
Romney could use a few more "home states" to help him with the south...
Have seen many such Plantations in N. Flroida/S Georgia get divided and developed for now homes - prior to the crash. Dick Chenney came to N. Florida to shoot quail on one. Plantation managers like the guys in the photos have people raise the quail in pens, and release them the day before into the clearings where the shoot will occur. Guys like Chenney either have no idea, or don't want to know, or somehow convince themselves they are hunting. THey regularly hold shoots for cash on these plantations. Hoi paloi hunters pay a lot but not enough to keep the place running. I'm OK with these plantations disappearing. I'd rather see factories bulding things that help people and provide real jobs. The lady vacumming the bosses office, or gardening for the bosses wife may be well paid by local standards, but there are way too few plantation jobs compared to what can be built on those properties. They can rot to nothing before I'd like more WalMarts and strip malls junking up the countryside.
WTF is a hoi paloi hunter ?
I would assume you meant Hoi polloi as in the masses, plebes ,commoners , working class....At any rate these plantations were not meant to be used for quail shoots and could never be profitable as such...They were only profitable with labor that was only given meager room, board and whippings...They grew rice mostly since they were in the low country ( lots of swampy areas are good for rice ) of S.C. .. Large " Quail plantations " mostly in southern GA. " Down below the gnat line " as they say , are for the uber-rich as a status symbol not for profit...
The British already saw the demise of their country estate system after WW1. At least three-quarters of their estate/manors went abandoned as the nobility became a city folk...destroying the agrarian countryside behind them and disenfranchising the large labor forces that were built around the estates.
This is just about realigning history with the times. If your plantation isn't turning a profit, why do you live there?
That is it, if it can't support itself then it is over priced
It was all good when the labor to keep a plantation afloat was FREE, but now it's gonna cost. If I had the money, I'd purchase one just to finish what Sherman started.