Thomas Heyward Jr. and Old House Plantation
- katellashisadventure
- Mar 14
- 2 min read
Thomas Heyward, Jr. is not a name most people are familiar with, but he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence from South Carolina. His childhood home was called Old House Plantation and was located in St. Helena's Parish, South Carolina. The area where it is found is now called Ridgeland and it is in Jasper County.
Old House Plantation does not exist anymore as it was burned down by Union troops in 1865. However, there is a historical marker which tells a little of its history. Nearby is the family cemetery.
The site is now a significant archeological site because of what it can tell us of life in the 18th century on a plantation. We know it was founded around 1740 when Colonel Daniel Heyward (father) received a Kings grant of 500 acres and eventually grew to 16,000 acres.
Colonel Heyward was highly successful businessman and built a tidal rice mill, textile factory, and ran an import/export business at the plantation. Besides the main house, there were two potential flankers - one of which would have consisted of the kitchen. Flankers are buildings that would have been positioned nearby the main house. The best example of this is Middleton Place near Charleston. There would also have been slave quarters in addition to the businesses that Colonel Heyward ran.
Today there is an open area with a marker noting where the main house stood and the rest of the plantation - what hasn't been sold off - is marshy wetlands. That being said it is a beautiful and quiet place to visit. The cemetery, where Thomas Heyward Jr is buried and area around the Old House site are open to the public.
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