History: Carter Hill plantation complex was once part of a large tract called Mill Tract Plantation, which began to be consolidated by the Boykin family in the late eighteenth century. The Carter Hill tract and surrounding acreage was acquired by Burwell Boykin by 1819, and was added to his acreage along Swift Creek, becoming the northeastern third of Mill Tract Plantation, which contained 1,691 acres by 1866. The Boykin family did not make Carter Hill their home until 1875; prior to this the tract was managed by an overseer employed by the Boykin family. It is a prime example of the system of management of large plantations in South Carolina during the eighteenth and nineteenth century, when overseers often were given primary responsibility for smaller tracts within the larger plantation, or responsibility for an entire plantation in a different part of the state.
Tradition holds that the oldest portion of the Carter Hill House was once an overseer’s house that dates to c. 1840, and physical evidence supports an ante-bellum construction date. This one-room portion of the structure stands on the southern end of the house. It was a gable-end building with boxed eaves and cornice returns. A fireplace with an interior chimney is on what used to be the eastern facade. At present it has two symmetrically placed windows on both the western and the southern facade and the original door was likely on the northern facade. This door now opens into the Victorian era house which was built in c. 1875. Physical evidence supports a construction date of 1870 or later. An addition was built on the eastern facade of the original one-room building at some point. This gable-end addition has a lower roof line with boxed eaves and cornice returns. It has a fireplace and an internal chimney on its eastern facade. A small porch is on the eastern facade of this addition. The original room has a simple chair rail on the walls and a simple wooden mantel with fluted pilasters on either side of the opening. In c. 1875, the owner, Burwell H. Boykin, built a new two-story, Victorian, weatherboard, gable front and wing house with a cross gable roof. The house faces west. The front door is a double wooden door with four panels and a rectangular transom and sidelights.The door opens on a one-story front porch which wraps around the southern facade and meets the original portion of the house. The porch has boxed posts and sawn balustrade. The six-over-six windows are symmetrically placed, one on the second story above the door, two on the first story porch, and two above these on the second floor. A polygonal bay window is in the projecting gable on the first floor. The projecting gable has a louvered vent in the attic story. At the rear of the gable-end portion of the house is a kitchen wing which appears to be original to the c. 1875 structure, for its roof pitch matches that of the house and the cornice returns on the kitchen wing are the same style and length as those on the c. 1875 house, in contrast to those on the older portion of the house. To the rear of this kitchen wing a small weatherboard building is attached by a breezeway. This small addition contains one room with one window and its walls are filled with charcoal. A narrow screened area has been added to this structure under an extended roof. Between the two rear wings formed by the c. 1840 structure with its addition and the kitchen wing of the house a one-story screened porch was added. The L-shaped porch is covered by an extended roof off of the kitchen wing which is joined to a dropped roof extending across the back of the house. The c. 1875 portion of the house has two interior chimneys and six fireplaces. The front door opens into a central hall which contains the stairway to the second floor. In the c. 1875 portion of the house are a central hallway, a parlor, a wainscoted dining room, three bedrooms, a second-story bathroom, and a large rear hallway which runs across the back of the first floor and provides access to the c. 1840 portion of the house. NR File Data / SC Dept. of Archives and History
Stay Connected
Explore history, houses, and stories across S.C. Your membership provides you with updates on regional topics, information on historic research, preservation, and monthly feature articles. But remember R&R wants to hear from you and assist in preserving your own family genealogy and memorabilia.
Visit the Southern Queries – Forum to receive assistance in answering questions, discuss genealogy, and enjoy exploring preservation topics with other members. Also listed are several history and genealogical researchers for hire.
User comments welcome — post at the bottom of this page.
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.
Thanks!
User comments always welcome - please post at the bottom of this page.
Share Your Comments & Feedback: