Prospect Hill Plantation – Georgetown – Georgetown County

Basic Information

• Location – Waccamaw River, Georgetown, All Saints Waccamaw Parish, Georgetown County

  Located off US 17 on Arcadia Plantation Drive
  

• Origin of name – Named for the view the house commanded
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Part of Arcadia Plantation

Timeline

• 1711 – Percival Pawley received land grants along the Waccamaw River. When he died his son, Anthony, inherited the property.
  

• 1733 – Anthony Pawley received two more grants that made the property a total of 550 acres (4, p. 81).
  

• 1736 – Anthony Pawley wrote his will and left his Waccamaw property (550 acres) to his brother George (4, p. 81).
  

• ? – George Pawley obtained a grant for 225 acres which he added to his 550 acres he received from his brother.
  

• ? – George Pawley conveyed 775 acres to his brother Percival Pawley (4, p. 81).
  

• ? – Percival Pawley bequeathed his land to his only son Robert Pawley (4, p. 81).
  

• 1769 – In March, John Huger bought 775 acres from the estate of Robert Pawley. One month later he sold the entire acreage to Joseph Allston.
  

  Probably in this same year Joseph Allston purchased another 280 acres to the north of his lands. He then purchased a third tract of land consisting of 300 acres from George Smith. By 1770, Joseph Allston owned approximately 1,355 acres (4, p. 81).
  

• 1783 – Joseph Allston wrote his will and divided his property between his two sons. The northern half went to William and became Fairfield and the southern portion went to Thomas. Each portion consisted of approximately 700 acres (4, p. 82).
  

• 1794 – Thomas Allston began construction of a house but died before it was completed. His will left the plantation and the "house-frame" to his wife, Mary Allston. The house is still standing today and is used by the current owners (4, p. 75).
  

• ? – After Thomas Allston died his wife married Benjamin Huger. They continued to live at Prospect Hill (4, p. 76).
  

• 1819 – President James Monroe visited Prospect Hill on his southern tour.
  

• 1823 – Benjamin Huger died and Mary probably moved to Charleston. By the time she wrote her will in 1838 she had sold Prospect Hill to Joshua John Ward for $130,000. Ward also owned five other plantations along the Waccamaw: Springfield, Brookgreen, Longwood, Alderly, and Oryzantia (4, p. 77).
  

• 1852 – Joshua John Ward died. His will divided his plantations amongst his sons and his daughters were to receive money. However, the Civil War interrupted the division of the estate (4, p. 77).
  

• 1868 – Joshua John Ward's estate was finally settled. Benjamin Huger Ward received Prospect Hill and one of his sisters, Joanna Ward Pyatt, received a portion of Prospect Hill called George Hill (4, p. 77).
  

• 1880 – Benjamin Huger Ward was still planting rice on the plantation with the help of relatives.
  

• 1906 – Benjamin Huger Ward's heirs sold the plantation to Dr. Isaac Emerson.
  

  At the same time Emerson purchased Oak Hill, and three years later he bought George Hill thus returning Prospect Hill to it's original acreage (4, p. 77).
  

  Dr. Emerson eventually owned seven other plantations which he combined and called Arcadia.
  

• 1931 – Dr. Emerson left his property to his grandson, George Vanderbilt.
  

• 2006 – The property is owned by Lucille Pate, daughter of George Vanderbilt.
  

Land

• Number of acres – 550 in 1733; 775 in 1769; 1,355 in 1770; 700 in 1783
  

• Primary crop – Rice

Owners

• Chronological list – Percival Pawley (1711-?); Anthony Pawley (?); George Pawley (?); Percival Pawley Jr. (?); Robert Pawley (?); John Huger (1769); Joseph Allston (1769-?); Thomas Allston (?-1794); Mary Allston Huger (1794-?); Joshua John Ward (?-1852); Benjamin Huger Ward (1868-?); Dr. Isaac Emerson (1906-1931); George Vanderbilt (1931-?); Lucille Pate (2006)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• ?

References & Resources

1. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1977
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

2. SC Highway Historical Marker Guide - online database by the SC Department of Archives & History
   

3. Alberta Morel Lachicotte, Georgetown Rice Plantations (Georgetown, SC: Georgetown County Historical Society, 1993)
    Order Georgetown Rice Plantations

4. 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

5. George C. Rogers, Jr., The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina (Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Company, 1990)
    Order The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina