Poinsett State Park Historic District
National Register Listing
Street Address:
6660 Poinsett Park Rd., Wedgefield vicinity (Sumter County)
NRHP Nomination Form
Record Number:
S10817743029
Description and Narrative:
Poinsett State Park is a thousand acre state park located in the southwest corner of Sumter County, South Carolina, fourteen miles southwest of the city of Sumter. Its setting is in the High Hills of Santee section of the county, distinguished by narrow stream valleys surrounded by steep wooded hills with slopes as steep as 37% incline. The two most outstanding natural features of the park include Shank's Creek, which transports crystal clear water to the park's Old Levi Mill Lake, and the steep wooded hillsides that lend a mountainous character to the setting, even though Poinsett State Park is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain physiographic region. Poinsett State Park is significant because it belongs to a group of seventeen South Carolina State Parks built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Unlike some States, South Carolina had no state parks before the CCC was created in 1933. The CCC spent 1934 to 1938 building recreational facilities, support facilities, and trails at Poinsett State Park using rustic architecture and landscaping techniques that were derivatives of the Arts and Crafts architectural movement. Across South Carolina, the CCC used the same construction techniques that were deployed at Poinsett; notably the use of native materials, an attempt to blend new construction with the surrounding habitats, and doing it primarily with manual labor. At Poinsett the use of a local stone, coquina, matches in color and texture the surrounding sandy landscape of many parts of the park. Coquina was mined and shaped locally, and was utilized in the construction of many of the buildings, structures, and objects throughout the park. The property is listed in the National Register under Criterion A in the areas of politics/government, entertainment/recreation, conservation, and ethnic heritage: African American, and Criterion C in the areas of architecture and landscape architecture. It is listed at the state level of significance because the historic resources at Poinsett are properly understood within the statewide historic context of the establishment and development of the South Carolina State Parks. This listing contributes to the National Register Multiple Property Submission "Historic Resources of South Carolina State Parks." The district also includes resources associated with the architecture of racial segregation under Criterion C. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, May 31, 2016.
Period of Significance:
1934 – 1966
Level of Significance:
State
Area of Significance:
Politics/Government;Entertainment/Recreation;Conservation;Ethnic Heritage: Black;Architecture;Landscape Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
2016-05-31
Date of Boundary Increase:
No Boundary Increase
Location:
Sumter County;Wedgefield
