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1679
The Drayton family has held Magnolia since 1679
The plantation dates to 1679, when Thomas and Ann Drayton built a house and small formal garden on the site. It remains under the control of the Drayton family after 15 generations. It is one of the oldest plantations in the South, on the Ashley River.
The gardens
John Grimké Drayton developed the gardens after he inherited them in the 1840s
The Reverend John Grimké Drayton inherited the property in the 1840s and developed the gardens, reworked in an English style. He was among the first to use Camellia japonica outdoors, and the gardens became known for azaleas and live oak trees. Mathew Brady photographed them.
Rebuilt
The house burned in the Civil War and Drayton sold all but 390 acres
The plantation house was burned during the Civil War, likely by Union troops. Afterward John Grimké Drayton sold all but 390 acres to raise money. The present house is a reconstruction, based on what was built after the Civil War.
The grounds
A maze copies Hampton Court, and the camellias number nearly 900 varieties
The maze is a replica of England's famous Hampton Court maze, planted with some 500 Camellia sasanqua and Burford holly. The Camellia Collection has nearly 900 varieties. The Audubon Swamp Garden is named for John James Audubon, who visited in the antebellum period.
Rice and slavery
Enslaved people built the rice works, and four cabins date from slavery
Magnolia was originally a rice plantation, and African enslaved people from rice-growing regions created its dams and dikes. Some were brought by the Draytons from Barbados in the 1670s. Four of the five cabins were built in slavery times, and the program is called From Slavery to Freedom.
Day 3, morning
Next is Angel Oak.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (Charleston, South Carolina), and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.