— Keithfield Plantation Slave Cabin, 1987 © National Register of Historic Places —
Basic Information
- Location – Black River, Georgetown, Georgetown County
Located southeast of US 701 in the vicinity of Keithfield Drive
- Origin of name – Named for John Keith, an early owner
- Other names – ?
- Current status – ?
Timeline
- 1686 – Earliest known date of existence
- ? – House built
- Early 1800s – John Keith owned Keithfield (1, p. 3).
- 1853 – James Heyward Trapier purchased the plantation. He also owned nearby Windsor Plantation (1, p. 3).
- 1865 – Trapier passed away in December. Keithfield continued to cultivate rice while being held in his estate (1, p. 3).
- 1866 – One of the most intense freedmen uprisings in Georgetown County occurred at Keithfield. The freedmen left their work in the rice fields, chasing the manager off the plantation (1, p. 3).
- 1870-1873 – James R. Pringle & Son owned Keithfield (5).
- 1873 – James R. Pringle & Son transferred ownership of the plantation to Adger & Son (5).
- 1885 – John P. Hazzard acquired Keithfield and continued to grow rice at the plantation (1, p. 3).
- 1906 – Several severe storms forced Hazzard to end his commercial rice production at Keithfield. Hazzard then rented portions of the fields to black farmers who grew rice and sold their crop to local merchants until the 1920s. Descendants of these families resided on Keithfield in the 1960s (1, p. 3 and 4).
- Mid 1900s – The original house was destroyed by fire (1, p. 3).
- ? – A brick house was built on the property (4).
- 1964 – The brick house was no longer there as it too had been lost to fire (4).
Land
- Number of acres – 2,648
- Primary crop – Rice (1, p. 2)
- Elizabeth Jaquette Bond's father was hired around 1937 to care for the grounds of Keithfield. Elizabeth recalls from her childhood, "The plantation was actually and island - as the river was on one side and rice irrigation canals surrounding it on the other sides. You had to cross a bridge on the canal to get onto the property. The plantation was then considered a "show place", and around Easter time, when the flowers and trees were most beautiful, "guests" were allowed to take guided tours around the grounds. The "tour guides" were my brothers, who would hop onto the runningboards of the cars and take them all around the winding driveways. They would point out special trees and flowers, and tell about the history of the plantation. This was a free tour, but most people tipped them a little for their service. At the end of a tour, the "guests" were invited to stop and have lemonade and cookies made and served by my mother and sisters. A small brochure was given out with a picture of the house and gardens." (4)
Owners
- Alphabetical list – Adger & Son (1873-?); Solomon Clarke Anderson; John P. Hazzard (1885-?); John Keith (early 1800s); Philip Johnston Porcher; James R. Pringle & Son (1870-1873); James Heyward Trapier (1853-1865); Estate of James Heyward Trapier (1865-?)
Slaves
- Number of slaves – 81 in 1860 (1, p. 3)
Buildings
- A circa 1830 slave cabin was on the property in 1987 (1, p. 3).
- Elizabeth Jaquette Bond resided in the house at Keithfield around 1937, before it was destroyed by fire. She remembers, "The house was very large, with a columned-porch on both levels. Sitting on the porch, to the left of the large double doors, was a very large, green, iron dragon. It frightened this four-year old child, who had many nightmares about it! [During a visit in 1964, Elizabeth found] sitting under a tree near where the house had stood, was that scary green dragon!" (4)
References & Resources
- National Register of Historic Places
– Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1987
– Photographs, architectural overview
- George C. Rodgers, Jr., The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina
(Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Company, 1990)
Order The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina - 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), pp. 446-450
Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River - Information contributed by Elizabeth Jaquette Bond
- William Hay Townsend, Reports of Cases Heard and Determined by the Supreme Court of South Carolina, Volume 11 (Columbia, SC: R.L. Bryan Company, 1880) - Information contributed by John C. Keith
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.
