South Carolina National Heritage Areas (Non-Units)

5/17/2003 Charles Pinckney NHS Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter NM) ... across Charleston to Charles Towne Landing. This place recreates a bit of the 1670s settlement, and is part of the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. Saw a great recreation of a period cargo boat, and heard a good presentation on navigation. Went to a little settlement home recreation, and walked around a large animal forest, where we saw bison, pelicans, egrets, bears and a couple of brave raccoons digging in the mud within a few feet of a 7 foot alligator. ... then on the road for the long drive on 78 (the Heritage Corridor Discovery Route).

The park sign

Nice replica cargo boat ...

... with me on board

Dad by a settlement home

One of the many animals

The Heritage Corridor sign

10/26/2018 We continued to Hopsewee Plantation NHL, also in the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. It was the birthplace of Thomas Lynch, Jr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and served as a Lowcountry rice plantation. We got a personal 10:00 tour by a very good guide, and after a film in one of the original slave quarters we viewed the grounds and richly-furnished home. It was slightly odd in that the home is still lived in by the current owners, and we in fact caught a glimpse of the man. At this point we wished to get a quick lunch before trying to get another tour at noon, and luckily Hopsewee has a very nice River Oak Cottage Tea Room name, where we enjoyed a light soup and bread lunch. Heading back south a bit brought us to Hampton Plantation NHL and State Historic Site, also in the NHC. Established in 1735, its main house is one of the state's finest examples of a wood frame Georgian plantation house. Here we got another personal tour, this time by a very enjoyable and talkative ranger hoping to get back into the NPS at Fort Sumpter. This house is now pretty much empty, and in many areas is down to the beam structure, and others has finished surfaces. What made it interesting were the many stories of the generations of owners and slaves that lived there. ... headed to Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant (and in the NHC). Here there are three NHLs: USS Yorktown - One of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during WWII, named after the Battle of Yorktown, and the fourth Navy ship to bear the name. USS Laffey - An Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer from WWII, nicknamed "The Ship That Would Not Die" for her exploits during the D-Day invasion and the battle of Okinawa. USS Clamagore - A Balao-class submarine built in 1945 and still in training when WWII ended, she is the only known surviving example of a GUPPY-type sub. We went on the Yorktown and while Mom watched a film on the hanger deck, I followed a tour route through various areas and eventually up onto the flight deck to see many different aircraft. Back down on the hanger deck we checked out the aircraft there, then went back out for a nice walk on the pier in the sun to see the other two NHLs close up.

Hopsewee sign

The look out front

Beautiful ...

... interiors

View from the river side

Mom on a joggling board

Hampton sign

Front of the mansion

Interior view

The NHL sign

The park sign

USS Laffey

F4 on the deck of ...

The USS Yorktown

USS Clamagore

A good view of the Yorktown

10/27/2018 Headed north, joining the Ashley River Road NSB, to Middleton Place NHL (in the NHC), arriving right at opening. Built in the18th and 19th centuries, the plantation was the primary residence of several generations of the prominent Middleton family. We walked around the beautiful landscaped grounds and gardens, unfortunately not super impressive given the weather and lack of flowers in the fall. Still, it was quite enjoyable. While on the walk we found the crypt including Arthur Middleton, Signer of the Declaration. At 10:00 we got on a tour of the guest house museum, the main plantation house having been burned in the Civil War. The tour was quite good, with an informative guide in the beautifully restored and decorated rooms. After the tour we elected to get an early lunch in the restaurant that had just opened - nice salad for Mom and excellent catfish on grits with chunky tomato sauce for me. After a stop in the shop we drove just a few minutes south on the NSB to Drayton Hall NHL (in the NHC). This is an 18th-century plantation and the only plantation house (of Palladian architecture) on the Ashley River to survive intact both the Revolutionary and Civil wars. We walked the grounds a little and watched the museum film, then went on the tour (just us and another couple). The building is unfurnished and is in basically original Victorian era condition including paint and plaster, and we had another good and informative guide. From here we finished up the southern end of the NSB and continued down into Charleston.

Middleton Place sign

Arthur Middleton crypt

Nice panorama of the gardens

Mom on a nice tree

View of the guest house building

Drayton Hall from the road

Model of the original structure

Closer side view

Interior view

Beautiful staircase

National Heritage Areas (Non-Units) - South Carolina