boone hall plantation
SANKOFA'S SLAVERY DATA COLLECTION
Boone
Hall Plantation
Location: Mount Pleasant, Charleston, SC
Constructed: mid 1700's
History: The Plantation was part of a series of land grants from South Carolina's
Lords Proprietors to Major John Boone, the earliest grant dating from 1681. As
cotton became king of Southern agriculture, Boone Hall, a cotton plantation spread
over thousands of acres, became a giant of the Low Country's plantation culture.
Associated Surnames: Boone, Horlbeck
Associated Free White Names
- Major John Boone: Lord Proprietor's deputy, member of the Grand Council,
member of the vestry of Christ Church; one of the "First Fleet"
settlers of SC
- John Horlbeck
- Henry Horlbeck
Associated Black Slave Names
Agriculture
- Cotton - former cotton plantation of over 17,000 acres
- Pecans - Two Horlbeck brothers, John and Henry, established one of the first,
and the largest, commercial pecan groves here. Some of the trees planted by
the Horlbecks still flourish on Boone Hall Plantation, producing pecans in
commercial quantities.
Description of Associated Architecture
- Slave Cabins: The nine original slave cabins along the Oak Avenue
make up one of the very, few remaining "Slave Streets" in the Southeast. At
one time there were twenty-seven cabins, arranged in three groups of nine
cabins each. These quarters housed house servants, the elite within the plantation
system. They also housed the skilled slaves that provided blacksmithing, carpentry,
weaving sewing, cooking, and other skills that supported the plantation.
- The Commissary: small wooden building near the slave quarters was
once a school and may have been the building in which the slaves were taught.
- Cotton Gin House: Boone Hall's original cotton gin house was built
to house the ginning equipment that separated the cotton fiber from the seed.
After the cotton fiber was pressed into bales, it was loaded onto barges docked
at the plantation's boat dock. From the boat dock it floated with the
tide into the Charleston harbor, and from there it was shipped to the spinning
mills in the North or in England.
- Smoke House: Another original building remaining virtually unchanged
for centuries is the circular smokehouse located near the slave quarters.
The smokehouse, once necessary to smoke and cure hams and beef for the plantation
owner, his family and guests, is a fine example of the very rare header bond
brick work.
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