Hampton Plantation
National Register Listing
Street Address:
8 mi. N of McClellanville (Charleston County)
Alternate Name:
Hampton Plantation State Park
NRHP Nomination
NRHP Additional Documentation
Record Number:
S10817710016
Description and Narrative:
Hampton Plantation is an expansive plantation landscape representing significant historical associations from the early 18th century through the mid-20th century. The main house, erected in 1735, greatly enlarged after 1757, and with final additions made in 1790-91, is an excellent example of a modest sized frame structure that evolved through organic growth into a large, unified Georgian frame country house. The structure includes one of the earliest examples of the use of the giant portico in American domestic architecture, and is South Carolina’s finest example of a large two-and-one-half story frame Georgian plantation house. In addition to the architectural significance of the main house, Hampton Plantation is also significant for associations with agriculture, African American history, landscape architecture, archaeology, and literature. The plantation primarily cultivated rice, a practice which started in the early 18th century and continued until about 1915. Significant physical evidence of rice cultivation over this period remains on the property. Much of the agricultural cultivation of the property was carried out by African Americans, first as enslaved laborers and later as tenant farmers, representing some two-hundred years of Black history at the property. The plantation landscape also conveys important associations with historical landscape design. From the antebellum era, the property reflects both the influence of contemporary English estates, and the hierarchical and processional landscape displayed in the layout of the plantation buildings, while in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the designed landscape elements were devoted to the romantic “wild garden” movement spurred by the advent of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic. The property is also significant for its 20th century associations with Archibald H. Rutledge, a regionally significant writer and poet. Finally, the archaeological potential of Hampton Plantation is immense, with survey and excavation to date revealing artifacts associated with Native Americans, African Americans, and European Americans in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The main house is significant at the national level, while all other resources are considered significant at the state level. Listed in the National Register April 15, 1970; Designated a National Historic Landmark April 15, 1970. Additional documentation approved July 5, 2016.
Period of Significance:
circa 1701 – 1947
Level of Significance:
National;State
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Agriculture;Ethnic Heritage: Black;Archeology;Landscape Architecture;Literature
National Register Determination:
National Historic Landmark
Date of Certification:
April 15 1970
