Plantations You Should Visit Near Charleston, South Carolina

McLeod Plantation Historic Site was established in 1851 and tells a very American story. As a Gullah/Geechee heritage site it preserves and instructs the significance of this African-rooted culture. Standing as a living tribute to the suffering endured by black men, women and their descendants, it upholds the determination to achieve freedom, equality and justice to this day. Visitors are pressed to delve into the lives of all the people involved in this complex story to work out where they stand; gut-wrenching and beautiful.

The stories told on these plantations are sometimes inescapably grueling, stories of people stripped of their names and living in slavery. Middleton Place, around 15 miles northwest of Charleston, believes in holding on to the spirit of those who worked the land and keeping these stories alive. The story of how the Middleton family came to sign the Declaration of Independence is the release. Stories of those who were enslaved and those who became free.

One hour’s drive from Charleston is the imposingly grand mansion on the Hampton Plantation. The astonishing wealth that colonial times bestowed on the elite is clearly on display here, particularly in what could be described as the equivalent of a Hollywood mansion. This lavish display of wealth is juxtaposed with natural surrounds which are delightful to get lost in.