Magnolia Plantation

Photo courtesy of Charleston Area and Visitor Bureau: www.charlestoncvb.com

Built in 1676, for over three centuries, the Magnolia Plantation has been the original ancestral home of the Drayton family, whose many sons have played important roles throughout American history. It is believed that no other plantation in South Carolina is still under original family ownership from that early date, thirteen generations of the present-owning family having enjoyed it. It is the centerpiece of Ashley River history, and played important roles in the early days of settlement, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War. sides offering the oldest major public garden in America, it is also America’s oldest man-made attraction, having been open to the public annually since the late 1860s. Considered by many experts to be "the most beautiful garden in the world" for over a century, its reputation today is enhanced by the fact that, from a purely springtime garden, it is now planted to offer the maximum color possible during every season.