Drayton Hall

This year we chose to go to Drayton Hall for our plantation house visit. We had read about Drayton while doing our study on South Carolina and the kids were very interested in seeing a house that was preserved rather than restored. Built in 1738 it is a beautiful Georgian architecture style home built on a rice plantation. We did the house tour which all the kids really liked. There was then a special 45 minute presentation on the African Slave connection to the South. Since we are going to be studying the Civil War after Christmas and studying slavery and the Underground Railroad I was very excited! We had a great tour guide and I knew the kids would get great information. They learned so much about slaves lives on the plantation and about rice cultivating. 

The view from the front of the house where visitors by carriage arrived. Below is the view from the other side of the house overlooking the Ashley River.

The front door.

Original paint is still on the walls.

There is a room in the house that has a growth chart of the Drayton family. Every year over Thanksgiving the house is opened to the family decendents to come to visit and they remove the plexiglass covering and allow them to add their measurements.

Lindy, Ethan, and Erin are standing in a fire place that was in the basement of the house.

The resident spider.

Ethan by one of the huge oak trees.

Erin holding the rice box.

We learned about growing rice and how it was gathered and sifted. We also got to see artifacts like this pot and a Gullah New Testament Bible.

More house pictures! We all had a great time visiting!