Frogmore Plantation Complex
National Register Listing
Street Address:
Off SC Sec. Rd. 77 near jct. with SC Sec. Rd. 35, St. Helena Island, SC (Beaufort County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817707051
Description and Narrative:
The Frogmore Plantation Complex is significant as an example of architectural development on St. Helena Island from ca. 1790 to ca.1920 and for its association with Laura Towne and Ellen Murray, the founders of Penn School, and with prominent St. Helena businessman James Ross Macdonald. The plantation was originally owned by Lt. Governor William Bull, who willed it to his son in 1750. The property passed into the hands of John and Elizabeth Stapleton in 1790; the house and barn were built ca. 1810, probably during their ownership. Thomas Coffin, owner of Coffin’s Point, owned Frogmore at his death in 1865. Three years later the house was purchased by Laura Towne and Ellen Murray. Miss Towne and Miss Murray were two of the first Northern missionaries and teachers who arrived on St. Helena in March 1862 and founded Penn School. They enlarged the house and remained there until their deaths, in 1900 and 1908 respectively. The house and plantation were subsequently purchased by James Ross Macdonald. The complex consists of the main house, another residence built ca. 1940 (non-contributing), a cottage (non-contributing), a pump house, a carport/shed (non-contributing), a barn, and a windmill/water tower. The house was built as a one and one-half story structure in the early nineteenth century and enlarged to two and one-half stories in the late nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century the porch was enlarged from one to two stories. The rectangular barn is a significant example of tabby construction. Listed in the National Register May 26, 1989.
Period of Significance:
1810;circa 1810 – 1920;1868
Level of Significance:
National
Area of Significance:
Ethnic Heritage: Black;Architecture;Education;Commerce
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
May 26 1989
