Cogdell Plantation – Georgetown – Georgetown County

Basic Information

• Location – Winyah Bay, Georgetown, All Saints Parish, Georgetown County
  

  Original plantation lands were located on the tip of the Waccamaw Neck off US 17.
  

• Origin of name – Named after two brothers who owned the property
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Owned by the Belle W. Baruch Foundation as part of Hobcaw Barony which is open to the public for guided tours.
  

Timeline

• 1711 – Alexander Widdicom purchased 200 acres from the Lords Proprietors for £4. This was an unusual practice considering there was plenty of free land to be obtained through grants (3, p. 11).
  

• ? – Lewis John purchased the 200 acres.
  

• 1729 – Samuel Masters bought the property from Lewis John. He raised cattle on his property and operated tar kilns (3, p. 13).
  

• 1731 – Samuel Masters was given permission by the provincial legislature to operate a ferry from his plantation to the landing of George Smith on the west side of Winyah Bay (3, p. 13).
  

• 1737 – Samuel Masters sold the plantation to John Richards for £1,100 (3, p. 13).
  

  He continued to operate the ferry across Winyah Bay.
  

• 1767 – John and Charles Cogdell, brothers, owned the plantation at this time. It is not clear when they actually purchased the property (3, p. 14).
  

• 1807 – John Cogdell died of influenza. It is assumed that the property remained in the ownership of his brother Charles.
  

• 1843 – John Ashe Alston was in possession of the property. It is not known when he purchased the place. The plantation was eventually owned by William Algernon Alston (3, p. 14).
  

• 1905 – Bernard M. Baruch purchased Cogdell Plantation. He was attempting to buy all the lands that had once been a part of Hobcaw Barony granted to John, Lord Carteret in 1718. Cogdell became part of Bernard Baruch's new Hobcaw Barony even though it was not part of the original one (3, p. 14).
  

• 1935-1943 – Bernard M. Baruch conveyed most of Hobcaw Barony to his daughter, Belle Wilcox Baruch (1, p. 42).
  

• 1956 – Belle Baruch created the Bernard M. Baruch Foundation to manage the barony as an educational center focusing on forestry and marine science (3, p. 54).
  

• 1964 – Belle Baruch died and her father decided to change the name of the foundation to the Belle W. Baruch Foundation. The foundation still exists today and continues to provide educational opportunities in wildlife conservation and research (1, p. 42).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 200 in 1711

• Primary crop – ?

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

References & Resources

1. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1994
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

2. History of Hobcaw Barony: Click here

3. 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

Contact Information

• Belle W. Baruch Foundation
  22 Hobcaw Road
  Georgetown, SC 29440
  

  Telephone: 843-546-4623
  Website: Click here