Laurel Hill Plantation (South Carolina)

The Laurel Hill Plantation, also known as Laurel Hill Farm was a historic Southern plantation located on Lady's Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina. The area is now called Coosaw Point, a upscale community with clubhouse, pool, tennis courts, and dock. The area is known for its woodlands, parks, wetlands, and the Coosaw River.

Laurel Hill Plantation
Coosaw Point entrance
Nearest cityBeaufort, South Carolina
Coordinates32°29′N 80°36′W
Area368 acres (149 ha)
Built1837 (1837)
WebsiteOfficial website
Laurel Hill Plantation is located in South Carolina
Laurel Hill Plantation
Laurel Hill Plantation
Location in the South Carolina
Laurel Hill Plantation is located in the United States
Laurel Hill Plantation
Laurel Hill Plantation
Laurel Hill Plantation (the United States)

History
Laurel Hill Plantation, now called Coosaw Point.
Girard B. Henderson's chapel-like mausoleum on Lady's Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina

The history of the Laurel Hill Plantation in South Carolina goes back to the early 1800s when the island was used as farmland with enslaved African Americans living and working on the property. Fugitive slaves from the plantation were advertised in The Charleston Daily Curior with a $10 reward for their capture.[1] In 1830 there were 23,199 people counted in the Beaufort district, 84.9% were black; while in 1850 the population had risent to 38,805, with 84.7 being black (93.2 were slaves). In terms of agriculture, in 1860, Lady's Island produced less cash value than Saint Helena Island. The plantations on Lady's Island had insufficient capital to make planting profitable.[2]

Dr. Berners Barnwell Sams (1787–1855) had many plantations on Ladys Island. Several miles north on the Coosaw River was Laurel Hill Plantation. When he died on March 15, 1855, he gave Laurel Hill to his son Clement Sams.[3][4]

During the American Civil War, Union forces occupied the islands under the direction of General T. W. Sherman. All of the plantations gave way to military occupation. The major post on Lady's Idland was "Coosaw" or "Sams' fort on the northeaster point of the Island. At this time there were about 30 plantations on the Ladys' Island.[2]

The Laurel Hill Plantation, also known as Laurel Hill Farm, once owned by Girard B. Henderson in the 1940-1980s, was on Sam's Point Road on Lady's Island.[5] It consisted of approximately 368 acres (149 ha) of land. Truck Farming for to produce fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops was done on the plantation. The land has a small grass air field, once called Laurel Hill Plantation Airport,[6] residences, and an assortment of non-historic buildings and mobile homes.[7][8] Henderson died, at age 78, on November 18, 1983. Services were held at Laura Hill Chapel on Lady's Island.[9]

In 1977, Laurel Hill Experimental Mariculture Farm on Lady's Island constructed and managed ponds for prawn culture under a cooperative research agreement with the Marine Resources Center on James Island.[10]

The Laurel Hill Plantation was sold in 1997 to Homestake Realty Company and is now called Coosaw Point.[7]

See also

Lady's Island (South Carolina)

References
  1. "20 Dollars Reward". The Charleston Daily Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. 4 Jan 1816. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  2. Trinkley, Michael (June 1999). "An Archaeological Survey of Phase 1 of the Walling Grove Plantation Development, Ladys Island, Beaufort, South Carolina" (PDF). Chicora Foundation. Beaufort, South Carolina. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  3. "The Many Sams Plantations". www.datawhistory.org. South Carolina. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  4. "Searching for the Hardscrabble place on island". The Beaufort Gazette. Beaufort, South Carolina. 10 Aug 2003. p. 24. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  5. "Prohibited". The Beaufort Gazette. Beaufort, South Carolina. 1 Jan 1942. p. 22. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  6. "Location Identifiers". Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Air Traffic Service. 1994. p. 37. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  7. Pinckney, Edward (Jul 14, 1997). Laurel Hill Conditional Now Called - Beaufort County. LAUREL HILL PLANTATION, INC. SAM'S POINT, LADY ISLAND BEAUFORT. COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA WETLANDS SURVEY (PDF). South Carolina: Homestake Realty Company. p. 1.
  8. "Legals Notice". The Beaufort Gazette. Beaufort, South Carolina. 21 Dec 1961. p. 22. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  9. "Jerod Henderson". The State. Columbia, South Carolina. 19 Nov 1983. p. 22. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  10. "Praw Farms Are Coming". The Times and Democrat. Orangeburg, South Carolina. 9 Jan 1977. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
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