— Drayton Hall Plantation © SCIWAY —

Basic Information

• Location – Ashley River, West Ashley, St. Andrew's Parish, Charleston County

  Located at 3380 Ashley River Road (Highway 61)
  

• Origin of name – Named for John Drayton, an early owner
  

• Current status – Owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and open to the public.
  

Timeline

• 1738 – Construction on the house was begun by John Drayton
  

• 1742 – The house was completed
  

• 1974 – The house was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Presrvation.
  

• 1977 – Drayton Hall was opened to the public
  

Land

• Number of acres – When the Drayton family sold the property to the National Trust in 1974, they sold 633 acres. Today the National Trust holds 125 acres, and the State of South Carolina holds the balance.
  

• Primary crop – Indigo and rice

Owners

Drayton Hall ownership remained within the same family for seven generations. Today it is a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Slaves

• Number of slaves – The number of slaves that lived at Drayton Hall varied from year to year. The average number of slaves reported by the census to be living at Drayton Hall between 1790 and 1860 is 45.
  

Buildings

• Today Drayton Hall consists of the main house and privy. The main house originally was complete with two flanker buildings: the kitchen flanker and laundry flanker; however, an earthquake destroyed the laundry flanker in 1886 and a hurricane destroyed the kitchen flanker in 1893.
  

• The Museum Shop is housed in one of the two surviving historic outbuildings of Drayton Hall - the wood frame caretaker's house, built in the late 1800's.
  

Web Resources

• Drayton Hall Plantation: Click here

• National Register of Historic Places
  – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1976
  – Photographs, architectural overview
  

Print Resources

• Initial references: 1, 2

• Rosina Sottile Kennerty, Plantations on the South Side of Ashley River (Charleston, SC: Nelson Printing Corporation, 1983).
  

Contact Information

• Drayton Hall Plantation
  3380 Ashley River Road
  Charleston, SC 29414
  

  Telephone: 843-769-2600
  Website: Click here
  

More about Charleston

• Learn more about historic Charleston County including the port city of Charleston. We have helpful guides to Charleston history and Charleston libraries and museums – plus Charleston restaurants, Charleston bed & breakfasts, Charleston hotels, Charleston real estate, and Charleston jobs.