Previous: Grand Strand
From the South Carolina Department of Archives and History
April 29 We left Dr. Flaggs about 6 oclo[ck] and arrived at Captn. Wm. Alstons' on the Waggamaw to Breakfast.
Clifton Plantation, the home of William Alston (1756-1839, stood on the banks of the Waccamaw River on Waccamaw Neck. William Alston, the son of Joseph Alston (1735-1784) and Charlotte Rothmahler Alston, was born in 1756. In 1777 he married Mary Ashe, the daughter of Brigadier General Ashe of North Carolina. Alston served as a captain under Gen. Francis Marion during the Revolution and later rose to the rank of colonel. After his first wife's death, Alston married Mary Motte in 1791. It was the new bride who entertained Washington for breakfast at Clifton Plantation.
Now part of Arcadia Plantation, Clifton then "looked like fairyland" to Washington. He wrote, "His house which is large, new, and elegantly furnished, stands on a sand hill, high for the Country, with his Rice fields below; the contrast of which with the lands back of it...is scarcely to be conceived."
April 30 Crossed the Waggamaw to Georgetown by descending the River three miles. At this place we were recd. under a Salute of Cannon, & by a Company of Infantry handsomely uniformed. I dined with the Citizens in public and in the afternoon, was introduced to upwards of 50 ladies who had assembled (at a Tea party) on the occasion.
"Seven captains of vessels, dressed in round hats trimmed with gold lace, blue coats, white jackets...in and elegant painted boat" rowed George Washington across the river to Georgetown. Thirteen rounds of fire, one for each state of the Union, saluted his arrival, and he was escorted to his lodgings, reportedly the house of Benjamin Allston on Front Street. Tradition holds that this house is the Adam style brick house with a hipped roof that stands on a raised basement and faces the Sampit River at 1019 Front Street. First Federal of Georgetown owns the house now. The grounds are open to the public. In Georgetown, Washington was entertained at a public dinner, a tea party, and a ball.
May 1 Left Georgetown about 6 Oclock, and crossing the Santee Creek [Sampit River] at the Town and the Santee River 12 miles from it...we breakfasted and dined at Mrs. Horry's about 15 Miles from Georgetown...
Hampton Plantation was the home of Daniel Horry II. The original house was a 1 1/2 story, central-hall structure. After 1757, Daniel Horry enlarged the house to its present size, and in ca. 1790, the wide portico and pediment were added to the front of the house. Called Hampton by 1769, it was a working rice plantation. Daniel Horry died in 1785 and left the use of the plantation to his second wife, Harriott Pickney Horry, during her lifetime. His son, Daniel Horry III, was his heir. Harriott Pickney Horry and her mother, Eliza Lucas Pickney, greeted President Washington in 1791 when he stopped at Hampton for breakfast. The ladies "were arrayed in sashes and bandeaux painted with the general's portrait and mottoes of welcome."
Hampton Plantation State Park is open to the public. Tours of the house and grounds are offered.
May 1 ...lodged at the Plantation of Mr. Manigold about 19 miles farther.
Washington stopped next at Joseph Manigault's Salt Hope Plantation, Salt Ponds Plantation, or the Auendaw Barony, at Bulls Bay on Auendaw Creek. These tracts were contiguous and it is not known just where the house stood on the property. Known earlier as Sewee Barony, the plantation was formed by a 12,000-acre plantation originally granted to Sir Nathaniel Johnson in 1709, an 1,040-acre tract called Salt Hope, and 1,100 acres named Salt Ponds. This plantation became the property of Joesph Manigault through the will of his grandfather, Gabriel Manigault. Named for its "salt ponds," it was never Joseph Manigaut's permanent residence. A. S. Salley described the place as "almost entirely pine forest and swamps, devoted principally to raising scrub cattle and razorback hogs...The house...was an unpretentious structure..." The house no longer stands.
May 2 Breakfasted at the Country Seat of Govr. Pinckney about 18 miles from our lodging place...
Snee Farm is a few mile north of Mount Pleasant and was the country of Gov. Charles Pinckney. Tradition holds that Washington dined under the trees in the yard there. Pinckney apologized to the President for the humble surrounding. "I must apologize for asking you to call at a place so indifferently furnished, & where your fare will be entirely that of a farm. It is a place I seldom go to, or things perhaps would be in better order." Snee Farm came under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1990.
May 2 ...came to the ferry at Haddrels point 6 miles further...
Haddrell's Point was the terminus of a ferry, which ran across the Cooper River from Mount Pleasant to Charleston. Charles Pinckney and Edward Rutledge met Washington's entourage at the ferry and rowed him across the harbor in a "12 oared barge rowed by 12 American Captains of Ships, most elegantly dressed. There were a great number of other boats...and two Boats with Music...as we approached the town a salute with Artillary commenced..."
Haddrell's Point is the point of land on the south side of the mouth of Shem Creek. Pleasant Heights neighborhood was built on the point and surrounding land in the twentieth century. The point can be reached by taking Business 701 through Mount Pleasant and turning left on Hibben Street until it dead ends into Beach Street. Turn right on Beach Street. The point is at the intersection of Beach and Haddrell Streets.
Next: Charleston
Previous: Grand Strand
From the South Carolina Department of Archives and History