Sugar Loaf Plantation – Alvin – Berkeley County

Basic Information

• Location – Alvin, Berkeley County

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Part of the Francis Marion National Forest (2)
  

Timeline

• 1807 – Earliest known date of existence (2)
  

  Land grant of 500 acres issued to Charles McCay (2)
  

• ? – House built

  Remains of a brick house have been found at Sugar Loaf. It is believed the house was destroyed by fire, probably in the early 1900s (2).
  

• Early 1830s – Charles McCay died without a will and it is believed his property was passed to his children (2).
  

• 1847 – Charles McCay's son, Charles Greenland McCay, was granted a tract of 1,926 acres which adjoined his father's 500 acres on the south (2).
  

• 1849 – Charles McCay's oldest son, Samuel J. McCay, sold 612 acres, which included the 500 acres from the original grant, to his brother, Charles Greenland McCay (2).
  

• 1860 – Charles G. McCay, was granted another 118 acres bringing the size of Sugar Loaf 2,656 contentious acres (2).
  

• 1879 – Charles G. McCay passed away on April 1. His will stipulated Sugar Loaf go to his wife, Frances C. McCay. The will also stated that upon the death of Frances, Sugar Loaf would pass to their eldest son, Thomas A. McCay and then to Thomas's children upon his death or to Thomas's siblings if he were to have no children (2).
  

• 1894 – Frances C. McCay died and Thomas A. McCay inherited the plantation (2).
  

• 1905 – Thomas A. McCay passed away in November. Charles G. McCay wishes were honored with Sugar Loaf passing to Thomas's heirs. A short time after their inheritance, several of the heirs began selling their interest in the property (2).
  

• 1907 – A lawsuit was filed by one of the heirs against the Atlantic Coast Lumber Corporation and the other partial owners of the tracts to protest the division of the McCay lands (2).
  

• 1909 – The lawsuit resulted in the plantation's property being divided and sold. 492 acres, which is believed to contain the house, were sold to Frances D. McCay Upham and Annie McCay Andrews and three other tracts equalling 1,885 acres were sold to other parties (2).
  

• 1910 – Frances D. McCay Upham sold her interest in Sugan Loaf to Annie McCay Andrews (2).
  

• 1919 – Annie McCay Andrews sold the property to James R. and Robert W. Coggeshall for $8,150 (2).
  

• 1923 – Robert W. Coggeshall conveyed the property to J.R. and Carrie D.Coggeshall (2).
  

• 1934 – The property was purchased by the United States of America to become part of the Francis Marion National Forest (2).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 500 in 1807; 2,656 in 1860; 450 in 1900 (2)
  

• Primary crop – Timber

• The McCay family cemetery is on the property (1 and 3).
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• Remains of a brick house have been found at Sugar Loaf. It is believed the house was destroyed by fire, probably in the early 1900s (2).
  

References & Resources

1. Charles Greenland McCay - Contributed by Stacey Adams
   

2. Jeffrey W. Gardner and Eric C. Poplin, Historic Adaptations Through Time: Archaeological Testing of Five Sites, Francis Marion National Forest, Berkeley and Charleston Counties, South Carolina, (Atlanta, GA: Brockington And Associates, Inc., 1992, pp. 47-50) - Contributed by Tim McCay and Margaret M. R. Eastman, descendants of Charles Greenland McCay
   

3. Sugar Loaf Plantation Cemetery
   

4. Margaret Middleton Rivers with Margaret M. R. Eastman and L. Mendel Rivers Jr., Mendel and Me: Life With Congressman L. Mendel Rivers (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2007)