While today was mostly cloudy we did not get wet while we toured the Pinckney National Historical Site and the Plantation of Boone Hall which is just outside of Charleston. Charles Pinckney was a prominent Charleston businessman and instrumental in framing the constitution of the U.S. The Boone Hall
plantation is probably the most photographed plantation and has been filmed in several movies including The Notebook, North and South and Queen. The plantation is privately owned and is still a working plantation growing and selling various vegetables and is open to the public daily for tours.
The Boone Hall plantation grounds are over 300 years old but the main house was rebuilt in the 1930's due to the poor condition of the original house. Some of the original house like the stairways and chandeliers were used in building the new house but most of the out buildings are still original to the plantation. We were so impressed with the other parts of the plantation from the live oaks lining the driveway that were planted in 1743, to the slave houses and gardens on each side of the walk leading up to the front entrance that the main house, while very beautiful, was not as important to us. We visited the Oak Alley plantation outside of New Orleans and were just flat impressed with the live oak trees that lined both sides of the drive leading down to the Mississippi River. Well when we approached the drive of the Boone Hall plantation it reminded both of us of the Oak Alley plantation we visited several years ago. The Boone Hall plantation has been known for being a working plantation for over 300 years. At one time there were over 14,000 pecan trees on the property but hurricanes blew most of them down. The plantation also had over 200 slaves at one time which were instrumental in growing cotton, rice, and indigo which was exported to England so it could be used to make blue dye.
Another very interesting part of the plantation tour included a talk about the culture of the slaves that came from West Africa and were located from Jacksonville, Florida to plantations north of Charleston, South Carolina. These slaves called themselves Gullah Geechee people. They created their own song, art, food, and language which is still being taught today to insure the culture lives on.
These first five photos are of the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site.
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| Ferns were growing throughout the live oaks on this property. |
The remaining photos are of the Boone Hall Plantation.
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| These trees were planted in 1743. |
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| We picked our first cotton today. We both agreed we wouldn't have made it if we had to pick cotton. |
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| The tree behind the bench is over 600 years old. |
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| The oldest building on the plantation is the smoke house above. |
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| Two large gardens flank each side of the walk leading from the front gate to the front of the house. |
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| These are the slave quarters that were for the most important slaves on the property. The slaves who worked the fields stayed in other more meager shelters. |
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| That's my camera shy Huli looking out of the window. |
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| The Gullah people brought the art of weaving baskets from Africa to this region. You see black ladies making these on Meeting St. in downtown Charleston. A hand made basket of this size today would sell for over $100. |
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| Awesome palm tree don't you think. |
