— Marshlands Plantation 1962 © Library of Congress —
— Prints & Photographs Division HABS SC,10-CHAR.V,6-1 —

Basic Information

• Location – Cooper River, North Charleston, St. James Goose Creek Parish, Charleston County

  This house is now at 331 Fort Johnson Road on James Island.
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – Marsh Lands, Lawton
  

• Current status – Original property is part of the former Charleston Naval Base. The house was moved to James Island, and is part of the Hollings Marine Laboratory.
  

— Marshlands Plantation House © Brandon Coffey —

Timeline

• 1682-83 – Earliest known date of existence

• 1810 – House built by John Ball

• 1819 – The original 213 acres tract was sold to Nathaniel Heyward. He owned numerous lowcountry plantations (National Register, p. 3).
  

• 1861-1865 – During the Civil War, Union soldiers used Marshlands as headquarters for the United States Sanitary Commission.
  

• 1940s – House was restored
  

• 1961 – The house was loaded intact aboard a barge and floated from its site within the bounds of the Naval Base to James Island.
  

— Rear of Marshlands Plantation House © Brandon Coffey —

Land

• Number of acres – 30 in 1683; 822 in 1806; 213 in 1819
  

• Primary crop – Rice (National Register, p. 3)
  

Owners

• Alphabetical list – John Ball, College of Charleston, Paul Grimball, Nathaniel Heyward, Cecilia Lawton, Charles and Elizabeth Manigault, South Carolina Marine Resources Center, United States Government Navy Yard and Reservation, John Wragg, Joseph Wragg
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• The clapboard house with a brick foundation was constructed in 1810. In 1961, it was moved to James Island (National Register, p. 2).
  

Web Resources

• National Register of Historic Places
  – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1972
  – Photographs, architectural overview
  

Print Resources

• 30-15 Plantation File, held by the South Carolina Historical Society

• William P. Baldwin Jr., Plantations of the Low County: South Carolina 1697-1865 (Westbrook, ME: Legacy Publishing, 1994)
   Order Plantations of the Low County: South Carolina 1697-1865
  

• Claude Henry Neuffer, editor, Names in South Carolina, Volume I through 30 (Columbia, SC: The State Printing Company)
   Order Names in South Carolina, Volumes I-XII, 1954-1965
   Order Names in South Carolina, Index XIII-XVIII
  

• John Beaufain Irving, A Day on Cooper River (1842) (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010)
  
  

• Caption on map of plantations along the Santee River in Upper St. John's Parish, SC 1865
  

• Michael J. Heitzler, Goose Creek: A Definitive History - Volume One: Planters, Politicians and Patriots (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2005)
  
  

Contact Information

• Hollings Marine Laboratory (location of house)
  331 Fort Johnson Road
  Charleston, SC 29412
  

  Telephone: 843-762-8811
  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.