Millwood (Richland County, South Carolina)

Millwood
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Millwood Ruins in 1960.
Location:	6100 Garner's Ferry Road
Nearest city:	Columbia, South Carolina
Coordinates:	33°59′16″N 80°57′45″W / 33.98778°N 80.9625°W / 33.98778; -80.9625Coordinates: 33°59′16″N 80°57′45″W / 33.98778°N 80.9625°W / 33.98778; -80.9625
Built:	ca. 1830
Architect:	Nathaniel Potter (renovation)
Architectural style:	Greek Revival
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	71000803[1]
Added to NRHP:	March 18, 1971

Millwood is the site and ruins of an antebellum plantation house at 6100 Garner's Ferry Road (US 76), Columbia, South Carolina. It was owned by Colonel Wade Hampton II and was the boyhood home of the Confederate general, South Carolina governor, and U.S. Senator Wade Hampton III. After the death of Wade Hampton II in 1858, the house went to his four unmarried daughters. On February 17, 1865, it was burned, probably by General Sherman's troops.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} On March 18, 1971, the ruins were named to the National Register of Historic Places.^[1][2]

Hampton family

Wade Hampton I (1752–1835) was a lieutenant colonel in the American Revolutionary War, brigadier general in the War of 1812, a congressman, and a wealthy planter. When he died in 1835, he was considered one of the wealthiest men in America^[3] with plantations in Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina and the wealthiest planter in the Southern United States.^[4]

Wade Hampton II (1791–1858) was called Colonel due to a commission in the South Carolina Militia.^[5] He served two terms in the South Carolina Senate. Although he never sought another political office, he played a major role in South Carolina politics. He was an avid sportsmen, hunter, and horse breeder.^[3][4]

Wade Hampton III (1818–1902) was the first son of Wade Hampton II. He served in Confederate Army by leading Hampton's Legion and rose to the rank of lieutenant general, was a governor of South Carolina, and was a U.S. Senator.^[4]

Architecture

Various sources indicate that Millwood was constructed in 1817,^[7][8] 1830,^[1] or after 1815 and probably in the 1830s,^[3] Since many early houses were expanded over the years, it is possible that there is truth in all the statements.

Wade Hampton II married his first wife, Ann Fitzsimons, in 1817. His father had given him his Mill Tract north of the present Garner's Ferry Road. His father's home was the original Woodlands south of the Garner's Ferry Road. Wade Hampton II built a raised, two-story cottage prior to the birth of Wade Hampton III in 1818. In 1837 or 1838, Millwood was remodeled in Greek Revival style by the architect Nathaniel Potter from Rhode Island. His plan had a wing on each side, six two-story columns at the center, and three smaller columns on each wing.^[7] The renovations took about two years. During this time, the family lived away including a resort near White Sulphur Springs.^[7]

An artistic rendition of the house has been published.^[7] It shows the central, two-story section with the prostyle, hexastyle portico. There were matching one-story wings fronted by three columns on either side. The central section of the sketch resembled the extant Millford Plantation house, which was built by Hampton's youngest sister and brother-in-law in Sumter County, South Carolina. Millford and the renovations of Millwood had the same architect, Nathaniel Porter.^[7][9]

A conjectural floor plan of Millwood's first floor was published based on Hampton family accounts.^[3]. This shows that there was a central hall with two rooms on each side of the front of the house. With wide folding doors between these rooms, the entire width of the house could be open for entertaining and dancing.^[7] There was a cross hall behind these rooms that connected to the wings. There was a curving staircase to the second floor at the end of the main hall. The wings extended beyond the back of the central section.

Millwood's role in South Carolina

Because of the elegant entertaining and powerful guests, Millwood has been called the "social center of South Carolina" in the antebellum period. In addition to major South Carolina politicians, planters, and "aristocracy," national guests included Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.^[5]

The inaugural party for Governor William Aiken, Jr. in 1844 was held at Millwood.^[7]

Destruction in 1865

Before Sherman's troops arrived in the area, the family silver, china, crystal, and family portraits including their Troye horse paintings were taken to York, South Carolina for safety. The Hampton family plantations in the area including Millwood, the old Woodlands, and Diamond Hill were set ablaze. There is no proof that this was done under Sherman's orders, but the houses were probably too far from downtown Columbia to have been accidentally burned. The Hampton-Preston House in Columbia was spared.^[7]

All that remained of the original Millwood were the twelve columns, the smoke house, the wing house, and a portion of the stable. Sometime later, the six shorter columns that were in front of the wings were torn down. Around 1930, one of the round columns toppled. Its base remains along with the three other round columns and two square columns.^[3]

The Miss Hamptons built a nearby cottage after the war. This was burned by arsonists after the bitterly contested gubernatorial election that Wade Hampton III won in 1876. They rebuilt a new two-story house around the old kitchen and laundry near the ruins of the original Millwood.^[7]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Millwood, Richland County (U.S. Hwy. 378, Columbia vicinity)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740013/index.htm. Retrieved 1 April 2009. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Seale, William (28 August 1970). "Millwood" (pdf). National Register of Historic Properties Inventory and Nomination Form. National Park Service. http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740013/S10817740013.pdf. Retrieved 1 April 2009. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Edgar, Walter; The Humanities Council^SC (2006). South Carolina Encyclopedia. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. pp. 420–422. ISBN 1-57003-598-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=90ITAAAAYAAJ&q=1-57003-598-9&dq=1-57003-598-9&pgis=1. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Ackerman, Robert Kilgo (2007). Wade Hampton III. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. pp. 6, 8–9, 11–12, 77, 83. ISBN 1570036675. http://books.google.com/books?id=p0-UBMhhfRAC&pg=PA8&dq=Wade+Hampton+III+By+Robert+Kilgo+Ackerman+millwood#PPA9,M1. 
6. ^ Federal Writer's Program of the Works Progress Administration (1941). South Carolina: A Guide to the Palmetto State. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 375. ISBN 1603540393. http://books.google.com/books?id=VU1I137MqM4C&pg=PA375&dq=isbn:1603540393+millwood. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Meynard, Virginia G. (1981). The Ventures: The Hampton, Harrison and Earle Families of Virginia, South Carolina and Texas. Easley, South Carolina: Souther Historical Press. pp. 149–150, 159, 172–173, 240–241, 262–263, 265. ISBN 0893082414. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1pmAAAAMAAJ&q=The+Ventures:+The+Hampton,+Harrison+and+Earle+Families+of+Virginia,+South+Carolina+and+Texas&dq=The+Ventures:+The+Hampton,+Harrison+and+Earle+Families+of+Virginia,+South+Carolina+and+Texas&pgis=1. 
8. ^ Maxey, Russell; Historic Columbia Foundation (1980). South Carolina's Historic Columbia: Yesterday and Today in Photographs. Columbia, South Carolina: R. L. Bryan Company. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0934870020. http://books.google.com/books?id=aguIAAAACAAJ&dq=0934870020. 
9. ^ Jenrette, Richard Hampton; John M. (PHT) Hall (2005). Adventures With Old Houses. Gibbs Smith. pp. 196–201. ISBN 0941711765. http://books.google.com/books?id=668GiB6giAwC&pg=PT199&dq=adventures+with+old+house+millwood#PPT202,M1.