Lewisfield Plantation is a historic

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

located near Moncks Corner,

Berkeley County, South Carolina Berkeley County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 229,861. Its county seat is Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Moncks Corner, and the larg ...

. It was built about 1774, and is a 2 1/2-half story clapboard dwelling. It is supported by a high brick foundation that encloses a raised basement. It has a five bay wide

verandah A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...

supported by six slender

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

columns. Records show over 100

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

were held in bondage on the plantation as of 1835. Lewisfield fronts on the Cooper River and was bounded by Exeter Plantation to the north and Mulberry Plantation to the south. Sedgewick Lewis bought the 1000 acre plantation in 1767 from Baronet John Colleton. At that time, the plantation was known as Little Landing, but it was later known as Lewisfield because of Lewis' ownership. Lord Cornwallis was a guest of Lewis when Cornwallis was heading to Charleston from Camden. A Revolutionary War skirmish occurred directly in front of the house when Colonel

Wade Hampton Wade Hampton may refer to the following people: People *Wade Hampton I (1752–1835), American soldier in Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and U.S. congressman * Wade Hampton II (1791–1858), American plantation owner and soldier in War of 1812 * ...

(1752–1835) surprised a British force that had stopped at Lewisfield Plantation to await a paroled prisoner of war, Keating Simons, who was the owner of the plantation at the time. In 1937, Robert R.M. Carpenter bought the estate for $50,000 from the Lewisfield Club, a collection of owners. Carpenter intended to use the house as a duck hunting property in the winters. In 1948, Carpenter sold the plantation (by then increased to 2500 acres) to the Williams Furniture Corporation of Sumter, South Carolina. The business bought the house not for the historic plantation house but rather to secure several million board feet of lumber growing on about 1500 acres of the estate; the business did not have immediate plans for the portion of the estate with the house and hunting grounds. South Carolinian politician Rembert Dennis lived on the plantation. It was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973. Under new ownership, the house and grounds are undergoing a massive renovation and restoration to save both house and grounds.

References

External links

* * Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Houses completed in 1774 Houses in Berkeley County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley County, South Carolina Plantations in South Carolina Plantation houses in South Carolina {{SouthCarolina-plantation-stub