Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

Amy Kime Arner posted a link on Facebook today to an Associated Press article about the slave cabins on Magnolia Plantation. That reminded me of my visit to that plantation about four years ago. When I discovered that I had not placed pictures of my visit online, I decided that it was time to place a few on the blog.

Above: This is one of the slave cabins. I would love to see the restoration that they mentioned. Perhaps I'll be able to do that when NGS visits Charleston in 2011 if I don't make it there before then. More information is available on the Slave Cabin Restoration Project.
This is the plantation house. It was built before the Revolutionary War, according to the Web site. I don't recall how many prior houses the tour guides told us there had been, and I did not see that information on the Web site.
This was a swampy area that I seem to remember being near the slave cabins. It was beautiful. There were alligators sunning themselves on specially placed boards in the midst of these swampy spots.
This is along the Ashley River which borders the property. It's one of my favorite photos from the trip.
Since Magnolia Plantations has absolutely gorgeous gardens, I would be remiss not including a photo of some of the beautiful plants. I chose these lovely blooms.

Magnolia Plantation Foundation's Online Archive

Dear Myrtle is reporting that Magnolia Plantation Foundation (Charleston, SC) is going to sponsor an online archive of plantation records concerning the slaves who worked there. This is very exciting! Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is my favorite of the Charleston Area plantations. The project called Lowcountry Africana is expected to launch in March 2008.

The photos here were taken in June 2006. The first is the Ashley River which meanders along the plantation's property. The second is a photo of one of the slave cabins. The third photo is the plantation house. The Drayton family were the owners of Magnolia Plantation. (There is also a Drayton Hall plantation along the same road.)

I am looking forward to this new resource. It promises to be one of the most informative online resources for those with African-American heritage (and interesting reading for the rest of us to understand more about the plantation culture.)