Mount Hope Plantation – Ridgeway – Fairfield County

— Mount Hope Plantation House © Stephanie Kelley, 2014 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Basic Information

• Location – Big Creek, Ridgeway, Fairfield County

  440 Mount Hope Road, off SC 34, about one mile west of Ridgeway
  

• Origin of name – Two possible origins - named so because it provided a mountain of hope to those who were seeking a healthier climate. The other theory is the plantation's founder, Dr. Thomas' admiration of the Indian King Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoag Indians, whose chief town on the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, was called Mt. Hope (2, vol. II: 2).
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Privately owned

— Rear of Mount Hope Plantation House © Stephanie Kelley, 2014 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Timeline

• 1836 – Earliest known date of existence

  Dr. John Peyne Thomas purchased the property (4)
  

• 1836 – House built (1, p. 1)
  

  Dr. John Peyne Thomas had the one-and-one-half story frame house built for $1,025. There was also a kiln built at this time to produce the bricks and tile for the house (1, p. 1).
  

• 1859 – Dr. Thomas died as the father of 18 children (2, vol. XII: 52)
  

• 1865-1885 – Two of Dr. Thomas' daughters, Henrietta and Emily Thomas, conducted the Mount Hope School in the basement of the house for 20 years until state, public school opened in the area (1, p. 1) (2, vol. XII: 52).
  

• 1983 – Robert W. Thomas was owner (1, p. 1).
  

• 1986 – Walter and Tan Brown purchased Mount Hope from the Thomas family descendant Judge Alex Sanders (3) (5).
  

• 2012 – David Brown, son of Walter and Tan, was owner of record (3).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 3 in 1983 (1, p. 1).
  

• Primary crop – ?

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

— Mount Hope Plantation Tenant House © Stephanie Kelley, 2014 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Buildings

• As of 2012, the original house, outdoor kitchen/smokehouse circa 1850, and tenant house circa 1875 survive (1, p. 1) (3).
  

References & Resources

1. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1983
   – 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 Boyd Brown
   

4. Information contributed by Cyndi Shull from:
   Low-Country Families Influence Fairfield (PDF), (Columbia, SC: The State, July 31, 1938)
   

5. Information contributed by Cyndi Shull from:
   Post #2: Waking Up with the Neighbors - blog by Boyd Brown