Belfast Plantation – Kinards – Laurens County
Basic Information
- Location – Belfast Plantation spans Newberry and Laurens counties near Kinards, with the house located in Laurens County.
SC Highway 56 near intersection with SC Highway 560
- Origin of name – Founder John Simpson named the plantation in honor of his birthplace, Belfast, Ireland (1) (2).
- Other names – Brick House (2)
- Current status – Operated as a Wildlife Management Area by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (1) (2)
Timeline
- 1785 or 1786 – Earliest known date of existence (2)
Colonel John Simpson acquired the property (1) (2).
- 1786-1815 – House built (1) (2)
John Simpson had the Federal style house constructed for his English wife, Mary Well. The house was constructed using bricks made in Ireland, and the hand-carved black walnut mantels were imported from England (1) (2).
Simpson operated a post office and mercantile store at Belfast (2).
- 1815 – John Simpson passed away, leaving Belfast Plantation to his two young sons, John W. Simpson and Richard F. Simpson (2).
- 1823 – John Simpson's grandson, William Dunlap Simpson, was born at Belfast Plantation. William would go on to be the governor of South Carolina from 1879 through 1880 (1).
- ? – Champion International Corporation, which became International Paper in 2000, acquired the plantation. The company was headquartered at Belfast, managing the timber on property and using the plantation house as a hunting lodge (2).
- 2008 – Belfast Plantation was purchased by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (1) (2).
Land
- Number of acres – 4,664 in 2016
- Primary crop – ?
Slaves
- Number of slaves – ?
References & Resources
- Information contributed by photographer Andy Hunter.
- Belfast Plantation - SCIWAY's South Carolina Picture Project
- SCDNR Public Lands - Belfast Wildlife Management Area
