South Carolina Smiles and Places 2008 Official Vacation Guide - (Page 58) A haunting, other worldly aura pervades Charleston’s Ashley River Road. Ancient live oaks cast ragged shadows. Spanish moss drifts in the breezes, and winding drives lead to a string of old rice plantations. The most iconic of these, Middleton Place, offers a glimpse of plantation life and a stroll through America’s oldest and most historic gardens. The original plantation house was built sometime in the early 1700s to front the river, which served as a highway during Colonial and antebellum times. Here slaves loaded barges with Carolina Gold, the rice grown on this sprawling plantation that at its height was home to one of South Carolina’s most influential planter families and a large African-American slave community. collections of Middleton family furniture, paintings, books and documents. Tour the Oldest Landscaped Gardens in America The classic gardens begin with an imposing expanse of open lawn that gives way to manicured formal spaces, woods and water. Sweeping grass stairs, designed to mimic the stairs of the former plantation house, lead to two butterfly lakes and the winding Ashley River. The garden unfolds into lanes walled by trimmed trees and shrubs, past sundials, canals, reflection pools and shaded ponds in which black swans drift. Despite the garden’s formality, the site offers a relaxing atmosphere. Children romp in patches of sunlight. A young couple loll on a bench, and sheep graze in the distance. Experience Generations of History The gardens at Middleton Place were laid out in 1741 by Henry Middleton, president of the First Continental Congress. Henry’s son, Arthur, signed the Declaration of Independence. His grandson and namesake, Henry, served as governor of South Carolina, and his great grandson, William, signed the Ordinance of Secession. When the original plantation house was torched by Union troops during the Civil War, the family relocated to what had been a “gentlemen’s guest wing. It now serves ” as the Middleton House Museum, complete with A Peek at Plantation Life Behind the elegant façade of the house and gardens lie the stableyards, where a hive of activity kept the selfcontained plantation running. It still houses water buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs and cows. Using methods and tools from long ago, blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, potters, millers and weavers demonstrate their crafts, while interpretive guides answer questions about plantation life and slavery. A board inside Eliza’s Cottage, a preserved freedman’s 58 2 South Carolina Smiles 2008
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