Century House Plantation – Ridgeway – Fairfield County

— Century House Plantation © SCIWAY —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Basic Information

• Location – Ridgeway, Fairfield County

  170 S. Dogwood Ave
  

• Origin of name – Christened the Century House when the Ridgeway Garden Club purchased it in the 1960s, approximately 100 years after the house's construction (3).
  

• Other names – Coleman House, Brick House

• Current status – Serves as Ridgeway Town Hall
  

— Century House Plantation Circa 1890 © Contributed by Angie Arndt —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – John Rosborough acquired the property (2, XII: 51).
  

• ? – House built (2, XII: 51)
  

  John Rosborough built a house (2, XII: 51).
  

  It is unclear what became of this home.
  

• ? – John Rosborough's son, Dr. James Thomas Rosborough, acquired the plantation (2, XII: 51).
  

• Circa 1842 – Dr. James Thomas Rosborough moved to Texas and sold the plantation to James Buchanan Coleman (2, XII: 51).
  

• 1853 – House built (1, p. 2)
  

  James Buchanan Coleman built the present brick house (3).
  

• 1865 – This home served as the headquarters for Confederate General Beauregard when he evacuated Columbia in the face of Sherman's Army (1, p. 3)
  

• 1872 – James Buchanan Coleman died. His widow, Lucy Ascenith Hines Davis Coleman, inherited the house (3).
  

  After her husband's death, Mrs. Coleman ran a boarding house at her home due to its proximity to the Ridgeway depot.
  

• 1891 – Lucy Ascenith Hines Davis Coleman, known as Miss Cenie, passed away (3).
  

• 1960s – The Ridgeway Garden Club purchased the house (3).
  

• 2007 – The house was renovated.
  

• ? – The Century House became Ridgeway's town hall.
  

Land

• Number of acres – Angie Arndt shares with us, "[I am] not sure of the number of acres, but the plantation was said to have stretched to a road called the Devil's Race Track (still called that today) more than seven miles away."
  

• Primary crop – Cotton (4)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• The house's bricks were made at the plantation and the walls are one-foot thick (3).
  

References & Resources

1. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1971
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

2. 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
   

3. Information contributed by Angie Arndt.
   

4. Information contributed by Steven Durham whose great-great grandfather, James Buchanan Coleman, owned the plantation. Steven and his brother own 33 acres in Simpson which was part of the plantation's orignal property.
   

Contact Information

• Town of Ridgeway
  170 South Dogwood Avenue
  Ridgeway, SC 29130
  

  Telephone: 803-337-2213
  Website: Click here