Hopewell Plantation – Clemson – Pickens County

Basic Information

• Location – Lake Hartwell, Clemson, Pickens County
  

  Hopewell Road

• Origin of name – General Pickens named his plantation in honor of his home church, Hopewell Church, located in the Abbeville District (4)
  

• Other names – Cherry Farm (5)

• Current status – Owned by Clemson University but is not open for tours on a regular basis
  

Timeline

• 1784 – Earliest known date of existence

  General Andrew Pickens acquired a 573 acre land grant from the state of South Carolina (4).
  

• 1785 – Pickens received an additional grant for 560 acres adjoining his first grant (4).
  

• Circa 1785 – House built

  Pickens had a log house built and sometime before 1805 had a farmhouse style home built (4).
  

  General Andrew Pickens served as a US representative and, prior to that, was one of South Carolina's most formidable Revolutionary War heroes. Although General Pickens began his military career by fighting the Cherokee in the Anglo-Cherokee War, he was well-respected by tribal leaders. They called him "Skyagunsta" – or Wizard Owl. (Learn more about this interesting nickname.)
  

• 1786 – After the Revolutionary War, Pickens negotiated with several Indian tribes on behalf of the United States of America. On January 10, 1786 the Treaty of Hopewell was signed at Hopewell Plantation with the Chickasaws (7).
  

• 1817 – Pickens died willing Hopewell to his son Andrew Pickens, Jr. who serveed as Governor of South Carolina from 1816 to 1818 (4).
  

• 1824 – Andrew Pickens, Jr. sold Hopewell to John Carter (4).
  

• ? – Horatio Reese was the next owner (4).
  

• 1830s – David Cherry owned Hopewell Plantation (4).
  

• 1936 – The plantation remained in the Cherry family until this year when Mary Cherry Doyle sold it to the US Department of Agriculture which was developing a "Land Utilization Project" (4 and 8).
  

• 1939 – The USDA leased the property to Clemson University for agriculture and forestry research (8).
  

• 1954 – The USDA deeded the property to Clemson University (8).
  

• 1960 – The construction of Lake Hartwell flooded much of Hopewell Plantation's original land (8).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 573 in 1784; 1,133 in 1785
  

• Primary crop – ?

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

  General Pickens thought very highly of his slaves and stipulated in his will, "Dick (Old Pompey), with his wife, Fillis; Jame and his wife, Seala; Bob and his wife, Clarase; July and Sambo be freed from slavery, and 150 acres of land be reserved for them to live upon and to cultivate ... My executors are herby directed to give them two young work horses with two plows with gears and tacking, each of them to be given a good weeding hoe, the men each an axe with a pair of iron wedges, the women each a cotton wheel and card; likewise to be given five good young cows and calves, six head of sheep, and for breeding sows, to be supplied with provision for themselves and creatures, ... from the provision on the plantation, and likewise with three bushels of salt for the first year." (4)
  

• The Pickens slave cemetery remains and can be found behind the Clemson University Charles Lee Morgan Poultry Center (8).
  

Buildings

• The circa 1805 house is still standing.
  

References & Resources

1. 30-15 Plantation File, held by the South Carolina Historical Society

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

4. Hopewell Plantation Brochure - PDF
   

5. Detailed drawings of Hopewell Plantation House - Library of Congress
   

6. SCETV Short Video
   

7. Treaty Of Hopewell
   

8. Pickens Plantation Slave Cemetery
   

Contact Information

• Hopewell Plantation
  Hopewell Road
  Clemson, SC 29634
  

  Telephone: 864-656-7920
  Website: Click here