— Chicora Wood Plantation © Johnie Rivers —
Basic Information
- Location – Pee Dee River, Plantersville, Prince George Winyah Parish, Georgetown County
12 miles northeast of Georgetown on County Road 52
- Origin of name – ?
- Other names – Matanza (until 1853)
- Current status – Privately owned
Timeline
- Mid 1700s – Earliest known date of existence - Jamie Constance shares, "There is very convincing architectural archeology evidence that the smaller wing on the north side was a flanker of a mid 1700s house that burned sometime around 1798. This flanker survived the fire and was attached to the new section which was built before 1809. The brick foundation of the earlier house along with burned embers are still in the ground."
- 1806 – Alexander Rose sold the plantation to Benjamin Allston, Jr. (National Register, p. 3).
- 1809 – House built sometime before this year
- 1819 – Robert Francis Withers Allston inherited the property upon his father's death (National Register, p. 3).
Robert F.W. Allston held many political positions, including governor of South Carolina.
- 1838 – House remodeled by Robert Francis Withers Allston
- 1853 – The Allstons changed the name of Matanza to Chicora Wood.
- 1984 – House purchased by Jamie W. and Marcia Constance whom immediately began a major two and a half year restoration.
Land
- Number of acres – 1,400
- Primary crop – Rice
- Primary crop today – Grass turf
Owners
- Alphabetical list – Benjamin Allston, Jr. (1806-1819); Robert Francis Withers Allston (1819-?); Mr. and Mrs. Thomas William Andrews Jr. (1972); Jamie W. and Marcia Constance (1894-Present); Pringle; Alexander Rose (1806); Simons; Torrens; Waddell; Waring; Young
Slaves
- Number of slaves – 600
Buildings
- There are several outbuilding on the property including the original kitchen, smoke house and carriage house (National Register, p. 5).
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
- 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
- William P. Baldwin, Jr., Plantations of the Low Country; South Carolina, 1697-1865
(Greensboro, NC: Legacy Publications, 1987)
Order Plantations of the Low Country; South Carolina, 1697-1865
- J. H. Easterby, The South Carolina Rice Plantation as Revealed in the Papers of Robert F. W. Allston (Southern Classics Series)
(Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2004)
- Suzanne Cameron Linder and Marta Leslie Thacker, Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River
(Columbia, SC: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 2001)
Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River
- Catherine Campart Messmer, South Carolina's Low Country - A Past Preserved Text (Orangeburg, SC: Sandlapper Publishing, 1988)
- George C. Rodgers, Jr., The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina
(Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Company, 1990)
Order The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina
Notes
- South Carolina Plantations extends a special thanks to Mr. Jamie W. Constance for his invaluable assistance verifying and contributing to the information on this page and for being a faithful guardian of Chicora Wood.
More about Georgetown County
- Learn more about historic Georgetown County, including the lovely town of Georgetown SC. We have helpful guides to Georgetown SC history and Georgetown SC libraries and museums – plus Georgetown SC restaurants, Georgetown SC bed & breakfasts, Georgetown SC hotels, and Georgetown SC real estate.
