REDCLIFFE PLANTATION - 1859

BEECH ISLAND, SC

MAY 20, 2006

From its construction in 1859 until 1975, Redcliffe was owned and occupied by four generations of the Hammond family. Its residents included a South Carolina Governor and U.S. Senator, and an editor of Time and Life Magazines. The original Hammond, James Henry, was a colorful fellow who married into money, a systematically calculated plan. He was pro-south and in favor of the Civil War. He nearly particpated in a duel over the issue of nullification - the theory that a state had the right to void any act of the federal government which it considered unconstitutional.

--------------------------------

Mr. Hammond bought Redcliffe in 1855 for "$3500 cash." He named it "Redcliffe" for the red bluff in front of it (although, when visiting, we never saw a red bluff). Mr. Hammond at one time owned 300 slaves, 21 of them at Redcliffe and 294 at his other estate, Silver Bluff, a plantation along the Savannah River. Remarkably the war never reached Redcliffe - it was spared as the fighting never traveled further than Aiken, SC, a few miles down the road.

--------------------------------

There were 10 rooms on the two floors we toured, not counting the bathroom that was installed in the 1930's. The kitchen was in the "basement" and there was a full attic with rooms and an observatory that was later converted to a "widow's walk", which is still there. I imagine one could see the Savannah River from that site. Ceilings were 14' high. The staircases were steep and long. Eventually an elevator was installed. The property was offered to the state of South Carolina in 1973 by the last descendent who died in 1975 and is manged by the South Carolina Parks, Recreaton and Tourism Division of State Park.