Boone Hall

The Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens is an antebellum cotton plantation located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina near Charleston, South Carolina and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The plantation includes a large post-civil war farmhouse, a number of original slave cabins (which were occupied by sharecroppers well into the 20th century), several flowering gardens, and the historic "Avenue of Oaks": a mile drive up the house with live oaks on either side. It sits on Wampacheeoone Creek in the Christ Church parish about 10 miles from historic downtown Charleston.

The earliest known existence of the ground is 1681. It originated from a land grant given to Major John Boone. The land grant of 470 acres was given by Theophilus Patey as a wedding present to his daughter, Elizabeth and Boone. The original wooden house was constructed in 1790. The house that stands now was built by Thomas Stone, a Canadian who purchased the land in the early 20th century. He wanted a "grander style" home than what was there, so he built the Colonial Revival-style house that stands there today. However, the bricks in the house were taken from the Horlbeck brickyard.

On the grounds today, besides the house, sit nine of the original slave cabins which date back to 1790-1810, a smoke house dating back to 1750, the Cotton Gin house (1853) and the grand Avenue of Oaks that was created in 1743 and completed in 1843. The live oak trees run 3/4 of a mile long from the entrance to the front house gates.

The plantation was named one of the African American Historic Places in South Carolina. [ [http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/afamer/aframsites.pdf African American Historic Places in South Carolina] ]

Owners over the years are as follows: Theophilus Patey, Major John Boone (founder), Fenwick, Hickman, Thomas Vardell (1811), John and Henry Horlbeck (1817), Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stone (1935), exiled Russian Prince Dmitri Djordjadze (1940), Dr. Henry Deas and his wife Adele Deas (1945), and Harris M. McRae and his wife, Nancy Thomas (1955). The McRaes opened the plantation to the public in 1957 and have made great efforts to preserve the original structures and gardens.

In Popular Culture

While there is no photographing or filming of the house allowed on the tours, the house and grounds have appeared in the mini-series "North and South" and the movies "Queen" and "The Notebook". The house, gardens, and other places of interest are open to the public for tours all year round.

Other films of note:
* [http://www.binyahfilm.org Bin Yah: There's No Place Like Home (2008)] "(Directed by Justin Nathanson, produced by ChasDOC)"

References

External links

* [http://www.boonehallplantation.com/cms_pages/ Official Site]
* [http://charlestoninsidersguide.com/boone-hall.php Boone Hall Plantation]
* [http://south-carolina-plantations.com/charleston/boone-hall.html South Carolina Plantations]
* [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/charleston/S10817710135/S10817710135.pdf NRHP Application]
* [http://www.battleofsecessionville.org Annual Re-enactment of The Battle of Secessionville held at Boone Hall Plantation]