Historic House Museums in South Carolina

We try to keep this list of historic house museums for South Carolina current, but it is best to check directly with the museums for their hours and other information. If you know of a historic house museum in South Carolina that should be listed here, please use our submission form to let us know about it.

Bluffton

Heyward House Historic Center

The Heyward House, built as a summer home for the owner of Moreland Plantation, John Cole, was constructed CIRCA 1840 and is one of only eight antebellum homes remaining in the Lowcountry coastal town of Bluffton, South Carolina and is the 4th oldest structure remaining in southern Beaufort County. It is the only historic home open for visitation by the public in Bluffton's National Register Historic District.

Open Mon-Fri 10-3, Sat 11-2 • 70 Boundary Street • (843) 757-6293

Charleston

Drayton Hall

Completed in 1742, the historic plantation house stands majestically on a 630-acre site and is one of the finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture in America. Through seven generations of Drayton family ownership, the plantation house has remained in nearly original condition and offers an opportunity to experience history, to imagine the peopleãwhite and blackãwho lived and worked in a far different time.

Open daily 9:30-4, Mar-Oct • 3380 Ashley River Road • (843) 769-2600

The Heyward-Washington House 1772

Located in the downtown Historic District, within the area of the original walled city, this brick double house was built in 1772 by rice planter Daniel Heyward as a town-house for his son, Thomas Heyward, Jr. The City rented it for George Washington's use during the President's week-long Charleston stay, in May 1791, and it has traditionally been called the "Heyward-Washington House."

Open Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5 • 87 Church Street • (843) 722-2996

Joseph Manigault House

Designed by gentleman architect Gabriel Manigault for his brother, Joseph, this three-story brick town-house is an exceptional example of Adam-style, or Federal, architecture.

Open Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5 • 350 Meeting Street • (843) 722-2996

Middleton Place

MIDDLETON PLACE is a National Historic Landmark and a carefully preserved 18th-century plantation that has survived revolution, Civil War, and earthquake. It was the home of four important generations of Middletons, beginning with Henry Middleton, President of the First Continental Congress; Arthur, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Henry, Governor of South Carolina and an American Minister to Russia; and Williams, a signer of the Ordinance of Secession. Visitors are invited to tour theÝGardens, the House Museum, and the Plantation Stableyards.

See their web site for hours and tours • 4300 Ashley River Road • (843) 556-6020 or (800) 782-3608

Columbia

Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens

The Hampton-Preston Mansion epitomizes the lives of the planter elite in antebellum South Carolina. Both the Hamptons and the Prestons moved in the highest social and political circles of Columbia society. Their wealth came from cotton plantations in Columbia and sugar cane plantations in Louisiana, on which hundreds of slaves labored.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-5 • 1615 Blanding Street • (803) 252-7742

Mann-Simons Cottage

The Mann-Simons Cottage has statewide significance as one of only a few houses in South Carolina once owned by free blacks in antebellum days and now preserved as historic house museums. Celia Mann and her descendents owned the house from the mid-nineteenth century until 1970.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-5 • 1403 Richland Street • (803) 252-7742

Robert Mills House & Park

The Robert Mills House exemplifies the skill of the United States' first Federal architect. Robert Mills designed some of the nation's most prominent buildings, including the Washington Monument.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-5 • 1616 Blanding Street • (803) 252-7742

Woodrow Wilson Family Home

The Woodrow Wilson Family Home is the only house the Wilson family ever owned. When the family arrived in Columbia in 1870, they intended to make the city their permanent home. Thomas Woodrow Wilson spent his teenage years here, a period that had a profound influence on his political views.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-5 • 1705 Hampton Street • (803) 252-7742

Georgetown

Hopsewee Plantation

Hopsewee, South Carolina's First National Historic Landmark, is a preservation rather than a restoration and has never been allowed to fall into decay as it has always been cherished. 0nly five families have owned it, although it was built almost 40 years before the Revolutionary War.

See their web site for hours • 494 Hopsewee Road • (843) 546-7891

Sullivans Island

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site

The historic site was established to interpret Charles Pinckney's plantation Snee Farm, his role in the development of the United States Constitution and the transition of the United States from a group of colonies to a young nation. Interpretive exhibits, located in a house built circa 1828 but which is not Pinckney related, highlight these areas as well as the influences of African-Americans in the development of Snee Farm.

Open Daily 9-5 • 1214 Middle Street • (843) 881-5516