— Rice Hope Plantation © Brandon Coffey —

Basic Information

• Location – Black River, Oatland, Georgetown County

  Located northwest of US 701 at Post Foot Landing off Choppee Road
  

• Origin of name – Named after the rice crop that made so many planters wealthy
  

• Other names – Black River Plantation, International Paper Company House
  

• Current status – Privately owned

Timeline

• 1744 – Earliest known date of existence

  Daniel Shaw surveyed his 850 acre tract of land (National Register, p. 8).
  

• 1751 – Daniel Shaw died willing the property to his son Amos Shaw (National Register, p. 6).
  

• 1752 – Amos Shaw sold the plantation to William Turner (National Register, p. 7).
  

• 1754 – William Glenn was owner of Rice Hope (National Register, p. 7).
  

• 1765 – William and Martha Glenn sold the plantation to Henry Futhy (National Register, p. 7).
  

• 1797 – Captain Francis Green owned the property (National Register, p. 7).
  

• 1807 – William Green was owner (National Register, p. 7-8).
  

  During the Civil War, many Georgetown County deeds were destroyed so ownership information during this period is not known (National Register, p. 8).

• 1857 – B.D. Heriot became owner of the plantation (National Register, p. 8).
  

• ? – John P. Ford purchased the property from Heriot (National Register, p. 8).
  

• 1866 – John P. Ford willed the plantation to his daughter Martha S. Ford. Martha and her husband Paul Fitzsimons mortgaged the property and regained sole ownership when the mortgage was repaid in this year (National Register, p. 8).
  

• Prior to 1904 – Martha Fitzsimons willed Rice Hope to Ann E. Ford. This same year Ann and her husband Thomas lost it to foreclosure (National Register, p. 8).
  

• ? – Soon after the foreclosure, Georgetown County's Clerk of Court, O.B. Skinner, acquired the plantation (National Register, p. 8).
  

• 1917 – Rice Hope became part of the estate of O.B. Skinner (National Register, p. 5).
  

• 1918 – The heirs of O.B. Skinner sold the plantation to James A. Waddell (National Register, p. 5).
  

• 1919 – Waddell began a cattle business and deeded the property to the Waddell Ranch Corporation (National Register, p. 5)
  

• 1919 – Current house built by James A. Waddell (National Register, p. 5)
  

• 1928 – Waddell declared bankruptcy and lost the plantation to foreclosure (National Register, p. 8).
  

• 1928 – Willis E. Fertig purchased the property (National Register, p. 8).
  

• 1942 – The plantation purchased by the International Paper Company from Fertig and was used as a resort by employees and guests (National Register, p. 5).
  

• 1986 – The International Paper Company sold to John and Suzanne Hudson (National Register, p. 8).
  

• 2004 – The nursing home scenes in the movie The Notebook were shot at the plantation.
  

Land

• Number of acres – 850 in 1744; 11.25 in 1993

• Primary crop – Rice

Owners

• Chronological list – Daniel Shaw (1744-1751); Amos Shaw (1751-?); William Turner (1752-1754); William and Martha Glenn (1754-1765); Henry Futhy (1765-?); Captain Francis Green (1797); William Green (1807); B.D. Heriot (1857-?); John P. Ford; Paul and Martha S. Ford Fitzsimons (1866); Thomas and Ann E. Ford (1904); O.B. Skinner (?-1917); James A. Waddell (1918-1919); Waddell Ranch Corporation (1919-1928); Willis E. Fertig (1928-1942); International Paper Company (1942-1986); John and Suzanne Hudson (1986-?)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• It has long been rumored that the 1919 house was a Sears 'kit house.' Kit houses were very popular at this time but the Rice Hope Plantation is not a Sears house (National Register, p. 5).
  

Web Resources

• National Register of Historic Places
  – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1993
  – Photographs, architectural overview
  

Print Resources

• 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

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.