Mountain Shoals Plantation – Enoree – Spartanburg County

— Mountain Shoals Plantation © Bill Fitzpatrick, 2014 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Basic Information

• Location – Enoree, Ninety Six District, Spartanburg County

  Located at the junction of US 221 and Parker Road (1, p. 1, 7, 8)
  

• Origin of name – For the shoals in the Enoree River near the house (3)
  

• Other names – James Nesbitt House (1, p. 1)

• Current status – Privately owned

Timeline

• 1750 – Earliest known date of existence

  Land grant to James Meador from King George III

• 1817 – Daniel McKee received a land grant from the state and operated a mill near Mountain Shoals (1, p. 3).
  

  It is believed Daniel McKee constructed the house
  

• 1823 – McKee lost the property to a sheriff's sale (1, p. 3).
  

• 1828 – Starling Tucker was the owner.
  

• 1834 – James Rhodes owned the plantation.
  

• 1836 – James Nesbitt and Leonard Hill purchased the property. The men were co-owners of the South Carolina Manufacturing Company (1, p. 3).
  

• 1837 – James Nesbitt became sole owner of Mountain Shoals (1, p. 3).
  

• 1838 – House built (3)
  

  James Nesbitt had the house constructed that still stands today.
  

• 1875 – James Nesbitt died leaving the plantation to his widow Caroline Brewton Nesbitt (1, p. 3).
  

• 1877 – Caroline Brewton Nesbitt sold the plantation to James L. Hill, the son of Leonard Hill (1, p. 3).
  

• 1924 – The house was owned and occupied by the Hill family until this year when it was purchased by a local pharmacist, Dr. William H. Irby (1, p. 3).
  

• 1973 – The Irby family left the plantation to the Enoree Methodist Church.
  

• 1975 – Frank Coleman and Martin Meek purchased the property and restoration began (1, p. 3).
  

— Mountain Shoals Plantation, 1979 • National Register of Historic Places —

Land

• Number of acres – 3,300 in 1850 with 500 under cultivation; 3,010 in 1860 with 2,000 under cultivation; 2.75 in 2013 (3)
  

• Primary crops – Indian corn, rye, oats (3)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 19 in 1850; 27 in 1860 (3)
  

Buildings

• The house is two-stories of framed construction which rests on a brick foundation. There are eight granite pillars supporting the structure. Also on the property is a circa 1815 log cabin that had been on a neighboring property and moved to Mountain Shoals (1, p. 2, 5).
  

References & Resources

1. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1979
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

2. 30-15 Plantation File, held by the South Carolina Historical Society
   

3. Information contributed by Martin Meek