Marshlands Plantation – North Charleston – Charleston County

—Marshlands Plantation, Library of Congress, 1962 —
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 Navy Base. The house was moved to James Island, and is part of the Hollings Marine Laboratory.
  

— Marshlands Plantation House © Brandon Coffey, 2008 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

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 (1, 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.
  

— Reaf of Marshlands Plantation House © Brandon Coffey, 2008 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Land

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

• Primary crop – Rice (1, 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; 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 (1, p. 2).
  

References & Resources

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

2. 30-15 Plantation File, held by the South Carolina Historical Society

3. William P. Baldwin Jr., Plantations of the Low Country (Westbrook, ME: Legacy Publishing, 1994)
   
   

4. 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
   

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

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

7. 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