4300 Ashley River Road
City Directories and History: (Arthur Middleton Birthplace) Middleton Place was the birthplace and home of Arthur Middleton, from 1742 to 1787, a signer of the Declaration of Independence for South Carolina, planter, politician and soldier. The south wing, ca. 1755, of the original plantation house still stands and Arthur Middleton is buried in the family cemetery near the residence.
This wing is a fine example of the adapted English Country Tudor style with strong Dutch influences. The three-and-one-half story brick five-bay wide central block of Middleton Place Plantation house was built about 1738. In 1755 the mansion was enlarged by the addition of two two-story flankers north and south of the central block. The north flanker served as a library and conservatory and the south building as a gentleman’s guest wing. In 1781, the terms of British surrender and withdrawal from the American Revolution were accepted at Middleton Place. In 1865 Union troops burned the mansion and its wings, leaving only the brick walls standing. In 1868 William Middleton put a roof over the south flanker, which was the least damaged of the three structures, and utilized it as the plantation house. In 1886 a great earthquake felled the ruined walls of the central block and the north flanker. The gardens at Middleton Place are the nation’s oldest extant landscaped gardens and rank among the largest and most important in the world. They contain America’s oldest and largest camellias, planted about 1785. Beginning in 1916, under the supervision of Mr. J.J. Pringle Smith, the gardens were restored to their former beauty over a period of several decades. In the 1930s the house was enlarged by the addition of a two-story brick service wing to the south end. Built on the main axis, this addition is constructed in the eighteenth century style. Listed in the National Register May 6, 1971
Additional information: Gardens are the nation’s oldest extant landscaped rank among the largest and most important in tRe worlo^ America’s oldest and largest camellias, planted about l? Botanist Andre Michaux. They were the first camellias tamgnt to’ -the United States. Henry Middleton “built his main house ca. l?4l, north and south flankers constructed 1755 from “brick made on plantation. Estate passed on to his son Arthur, to his son Henry, to his son William and to his daughter Elizabeth. 3y her will the plantation in twentieth century passed to J.J. Pringle Smith, a direct descendant of the first Henry Middleton. The gardens and “buildings were pillaged during the revolution. In 1865 Union forces “burned the house, destroyed the garden statuary and looted the family tomb. During the following fifty years everything suffered from neglect and overgrowth. The remaining gutted walls of main house and north wing were felled by the 1886 earthquake. The south wing had been roofed over and survived* In 1916 Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Pringle Smith undertook what was to become several Decades of gradual restoration and further development of the gardens. The significance of Middleton Place is farther enhanced through its historic owners. The first Henry Middleton, President of the First Continental Congress and responsible for original concept of gardens, resigned membership on His Majesty’s Council to head the opposition to British policy. Thus his plantation was used as a meeting place for freedom seeking Southern leaders. Arthur Middleton signed the Declaration of Independence. William Middleten , signer of the Ordinance of Secession used house for a political and military center during Civil War. Terms of British surrender and withdrawal were accepted at Middleton. Designated as a National Historic Landmark November 11, 1971.
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The Ashley River Historic District is a unique nationally significant cultural landscape comprising 23,828.26-acres bounded by the Ashley River, the Ashley-Stono Canal, and a network of roads established in the late-17th century to connect Charleston with the extensive interior land holdings of the settlers as well as with important Native American trade routes. The district encompasses these roads as well as the buildings, structures, landscape features, and archaeological sites of the late-17th century through the mid-20th century. There are 136 resources contributing to the significance of the district and 68 noncontributing resources. Significant and well-known historic resources in the district include plantations, gardens, vernacular buildings, and country houses that were established along the banks of the Ashley River. However, it also includes the extensive savannas and wetlands that, as locations of major slave settlements, livestock pens and pastures, agricultural fields, and phosphate mining and forestry operations, were essential to the economic vitality of the plantation system. This is a system that was tested and defined during the Proprietary period, firmly established during the Colonial and Antebellum eras, and revived with new industry following the Civil War and Reconstruction which continued well into the 20th century. These tracts of land between the Ashley River to the north, and the Rantowles Creek/Stono Swamp watershed to the south continue to be exploited in the early-21st century for their timber and mineral resources, for their recreational value to equestrian and hunt clubs, and as a major tourist destination. Listed in the National Register September 12, 1994; Boundary increase October 22, 2010. Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History
View a map showing the boundaries of the Ashley River Historic District.
View the complete text of the nomination form for the boundary increase of this National Register property.
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