Beneath a canopy of ancient oaks something remarkable awaits at Boone Hall Plantation. This isn’t just another historic site. It is a journey through time where stories of resilience and transformation whisper on the breeze.
Boone Hall Plantation stands as one of America’s oldest working farms. It has produced crops for over 320 years. Enslaved African Americans provided much of the labor and constructed the buildings including the bricks. However the main house was built in 1936. This legacy earned Boone Hall recognition as an African American Historic Place in South Carolina.
Let’s step back to 1681. Theophilus Patey gifted 470 acres to his daughter Elizabeth and her new husband Major John Boone. This land became Boone Hall Plantation. John Boone arrived in South Carolina in 1672. He was later elected to the colonial Grand Council. But controversy surrounded him. He illegally trafficked enslaved Native Americans. He associated with pirates. He concealed stolen goods.
The Boone family owned the plantation until 1811. John Boone’s widow sold it to Thomas A. Vardell. Soon after Henry and John Horlbeck acquired the property and its enslaved people. The Horlbeck brothers used enslaved workers to make bricks. These bricks helped build many houses and public spaces in Charleston. Talented slaves used skills in carpentry mathematics and geometry for construction. By 1850 these workers produced 4 million bricks a year by hand. You can still see their fingerprints in some of the bricks today.
The Horlbecks also planted the Avenue of Oaks in 1843. Enslaved gardeners and field laborers planted each oak by hand. They also planted pecan trees. By the end of the century Boone Hall became a leading pecan producer in the United States.
In 1935 Canadian Thomas Stone purchased Boone Hall Plantation. Stone and his wife Alexandra demolished the wooden house. They replaced it with a Colonial Revival-style house in 1936. The Stones focused on pecan farming and built an electrical plant. This plant used tidal power from nearby rivers.
Georgian prince Dimitri Jorjadze and his wife Audrey Emery Jorjadze bought the plantation in 1940. The prince raced thoroughbreds under the name Boone Hall Stable. His horse Princequillo was the fastest distance runner in the United States in 1943.
Harris M. McRae and his wife Nancy purchased Boone Hall in 1955. They shifted the focus to peach trees. In 1956 they opened the plantation for public tours. The McRae family still owns Boone Hall. They have preserved the original structures and gardens.
The house you see today at Boone Hall Plantation was built in 1936. Thomas Stone hired William Harmon Beers to design a modern residence in the Colonial Revival style. Cambridge M. Trott constructed it. The house incorporates materials from old farm structures and salvaged historic brick.
The most striking feature is the Avenue of Oaks. The Horlbeck brothers completed the planting in 1843. It features 88 live oak trees and one magnolia. It stretches for three-quarters of a mile to a pair of brick gateposts.
The slave cabins date from 1790 to 1810. They are brick one-story structures. Each has a simple fireplace. Sharecroppers occupied these cabins into the 1940s. Enslaved workers and free sharecroppers lived in these dwellings for nearly 150 years. This fact makes them incredibly significant.
Boone Hall Farms cultivates strawberries in the spring and summer. They host a Low Country Strawberry Festival. The farm also produces tomatoes squash cucumbers watermelons sweet corn and other produce.
Boone Hall’s history is complex. It has faced controversy. Plantation weddings have sparked debate. Yet Boone Hall remains a place of learning and remembrance. It serves as a reminder of the past. It also serves as a place for growth and understanding.
As you leave Boone Hall Plantation consider the stories you’ve heard. Remember the lives of those who shaped this land. Boone Hall is more than just a plantation. It is a living testament to American history.