City Directories and History: Names in South Carolina, provide a taste of what the community around Pinopolis might have enjoyed prior to the flooding of thousands of acres of historic plantation property to create Lakes Marion and Moultrie. Mr. Rutledge Connor, a devoted student of low-country plantations, writes us of Orangeburg-Berkeley County places inundated by Lake Marion: “The following named plantations were formerly in Berkeley County, but most of them were annexed to Orangeburg County in 1909. However, most of these have been submerged under the muddy waters of Lake Marion.” The plantations entirely submerged in 1941-42 are: Fountain Head, Mitchell, Brackee, Eutaw, Dorshee, Black Branch, Lime Spring, Springfield, Mount Pleasant, Windsor, Irving, Poplar Hill, Cherry Grove, and Liberty Hill.
Chachan’s South Pavilion – Image courtesy of the SCDAH / File Photo
“There are only six plantations remaining partly submerged and these are Walnut Grove, Neumertia, Pond Bluff, Belmont, Loch Dhu, and the Rocks. The Walnut Grove house, built in 1818, is still standing and so are the Neumertia and Loch Dhu houses, built about the same time. The Rocks House was moved one and a half miles from its building site to a site on Belmont Plantation. The Rocks was built in 1803 by Capt. Peter Gaillard, and he is reputed to be the first planter to plant one hundred acres of cotton in the United States. But this plantation has only one hundred and twenty-five acres left out of water. “Pond Bluff’s building site is almost entirely covered with water and may be reached only by boat. Of course, Gen. Francis Marion’s home at Pond Bluff VII: 2 was abandoned long ago, and Mr. Keating Lewis Simons, to whom Mrs. Marion gave Pond Bluff, built a home there about 1825, and this house was burned to the ground by Santee-Cooper before the waters were impounded over the area.”
Vol. II p. 71 – Names in South Carolina
The St. John’s Cookbook was acquired by Anne Beard, a former Winthrop University professor, who enjoyed local history and often shared her treasures with Roots and Recall’s Co-Founder, J.I. “Rusty” Robinson, III. One of the items she gave him was her old cookbook – the St. John’s Cookbook, which she had acquired as a young lady while in Columbia, S.C., ca. 1950’s. As she told Rusty, “I found it in an old Columbia used bookstore and just had to have it!” She explained, “to her knowledge the book contained numerous recipes from plantation that had mostly been submerged in creation of the lakes.”
A total of 26 plantations are credited with having provided recipes for the cookbook, which has notes that some recipes date to the mid 19th century but many appear to have come from late 19th century sources. The following plantations are credited with having one or more recipes in the book: Springfield, White Hall (Whitehall), Walworth, Numertia (Neumertia), Chachan, Belvidere, Sarazin’s, Dean Hall, Poplar Hill, Bosis (Bossis), Middleburg, Pond Bluff, Mount Pleasant, Ophir, Saint Julien’s, Pooshee, Gippy, Somerset, Eutaw, Moss Grove, Mulberry, Woodboo, Northhampton (Northampton), The Ferry’s, Belmont, and The Rock.
R&R.com Note: This cookbook is a wonderful reminder of what has been often lost to progress. So, as you review the book, please remember to share your information, stories and images of this area for posting on Roots and Recall. As retired Erskine College, professor of history, Dr. James Gettys recently stated: “Roots and Recall’s work is so valuable because it preserves a lost world.” You too can share in this experience by submitting your own family data…. let R&R know if you want to cook one of the recipes!
IMAGE GALLERY FROM THE PAGES OF THE COOKBOOK:
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- Whitehall Plantation Pond
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- Ophir Plantation
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- Northampton Plantation
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- Loc Dhu Pond
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- Gippy Plantation
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- Belvidere Plantation
The following plantation were reportedly submerged by the lakes in 1941-42: Fountain Hill, Mitchell, Brackee, Eutaw, Borshee, Black Branch, Lime Spring, Springfield, Mt. Pleasant, Windor, Irving, Poplar Hill, Cherry Grove and Liberty Hill.
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R&R HISTORY LINK – OLD BOSSIS PLANTATION HOUSE
R&R HISTORY LINK – MIDDLEBURG PLANTATION
R&R CONNECTION THE DOTS – GIPPY PLANTATION
Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.
Do you have information to share and preserve? Family, school, church, or other older photos and stories are welcome. Send them digitally through the “Share Your Story” link, so they too might be posted on Roots and Recall.
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