Slave Houses, Gregg Plantation

National Register Listing

Street Address:

Francis Marion College campus, Mars Bluff, SC (Florence County)

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NRHP Nomination Form

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Record Number:

S10817721015

Description and Narrative:

These two log houses were built before 1831 to house slaves on the Gregg Plantation. They were among seven houses of similar construction placed on opposite sides of a "street" leading to the plantation house. After the Civil War the houses were moved to a different area of the same plantation, where the residents took up farming for wages and subsistence. The houses were occupied until the early 1950s. These former slave houses, originally almost duplicate in design, illustrate the early practice of mass production of unit dwellings. Black craftsmen and artisans, using the same craftsmanship that went into elegant plantation owners' houses, did much of the skilled labor in Southern plantation buildings. The craftsmanship shown in these dovetailed, hewn logs is usually not attributed to work found in slave dwellings. These small houses incorporate many of the same architectural elements found in larger Southern homes. The open front porches covered by roof overhang and supported by pillar posts, the gable roofs, and rear additions are all typical of the region. These houses were moved sometime before 1870, and again in 1971 for the construction of the Francis Marion University Library. Today both houses stand in an uncultivated field at the edge of the woods. Listed in the National Register July 22, 1974.

Period of Significance:

circa 1831

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Ethnic Heritage: Black;Architecture

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

1974-07-22

Date of Boundary Increase:

No Boundary Increase

County:

Florence County;Mars Bluff

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