Harrietta Plantation

Harrietta Plantation is a historic plantation complex located approximately five miles east of McClellanville in Charleston County, South Carolina, near the Santee River and off U.S. Highway 17. It stands near other historic plantation properties, including Wedge Plantation and Fairfield Plantation. Although the supplied subject name is handled here as a brand-encyclopedia record, the corresponding Wikipedia entity is not a commercial consumer brand: it is a historic property comprising a plantation house, landscape, former agricultural features, and surviving traces of the plantation system. The principal house was begun around 1807 for Harriott Rutledge and her husband, Frederick Rutledge. The project was associated with Mrs. Harriot Horry of Hampton Plantation, who intended the residence for her daughter. Construction was interrupted after the family’s circumstances changed. Frederick and Harriott Rutledge eventually lived at Hampton Plantation, and the Harrietta house remained unfinished for decades. Stephen D. Doar purchased the property in 1858, completed the upper floors, and became the first resident of the house. The Doar family retained ownership until 1929. Rice cultivation continued on the plantation until 1903, reflecting the agricultural economy historically associated with the South Carolina Lowcountry. In 1929, Doar sold the plantation to Horatio Shonnard of New York. Shonnard undertook restoration work on the residence and gardens, although the property still contained unfinished interior areas when it was sold. In March 1947, Shonnard’s widow sold the plantation, then described as including a 17-room house and approximately 1,500 acres, to Mrs. John P. Abney. The property had reportedly been offered for $115,000 at the time. The house is currently identified with Harrietta Holdings, LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company. Architecturally, the original residence is a raised-basement Georgian-style clapboard house. Its first floor was arranged around two principal rooms and a rear hallway, with separate front entrances opening onto the porch. A false door was placed between the entrances to create a more balanced facade. The interior includes Federal-style fireplaces, mantels, door frames, and moldings. The south elevation has a portico carried by four Doric columns, a pediment with a semi-elliptical window, and dentil molding. Single-story wings were added in the 1930s; their Greek Revival woodwork and mantels distinguish them from the earlier portion of the house. The surrounding landscape includes a formal garden extending south toward Collins Creek, former rice fields to the east and north, and a lake containing cypress trees in an area associated with an old rice field. The western approach follows what was formerly the slave avenue. Remnants of a rice-threshing mill and one slave cabin remain on the property, providing physical evidence of its agricultural and labor history. Harrietta Plantation was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1975. No evidence in the supplied references indicates that it operates as a product brand, retail business, or publicly traded enterprise.

Harrietta Plantation developed as a Lowcountry plantation property in Charleston County, South Carolina. The principal house was started around 1807 by Mrs. Harriot Horry of Hampton Plantation for her daughter, Harriott, and Harriott’s husband, Frederick Rutledge. The building program was not completed as originally planned. After Charles Lucas Pinckney Horry and his wife chose to live elsewhere, Frederick and Harriott Rutledge lived at Hampton Plantation, and work on the Harrietta residence ceased before all of its floors and interior finishes were complete. The property entered a new phase in 1858, when Stephen D. Doar purchased it. Doar completed the upper floors and became the first person to occupy the house. The Doar family owned Harrietta Plantation until 1929. Rice was cultivated on the plantation until 1903, making the site part of the rice-growing landscape that shaped the economy and geography of the South Carolina Lowcountry. The property also retains features connected to that earlier agricultural system, including former rice fields and the remains of a rice-threshing mill. In 1929, Stephen D. Doar sold the plantation to Horatio Shonnard of New York. Shonnard restored the house and gardens, but the residence still had rooms that had not been plastered when the property was subsequently sold. In March 1947, Mrs. Horatio Shonnard sold the plantation to Mrs. John P. Abney, the widow of the founder of a cotton-mill chain in South Carolina’s Piedmont region. Contemporary sale information described the property as a 17-room plantation with roughly 1,500 acres and noted that it had been offered for $115,000. The house’s early architecture is Georgian in character, with clapboard siding, a raised basement, a south-facing portico supported by four Doric columns, Federal interior detailing, and a carefully balanced front elevation. The single-story east and west wings were added in the 1930s and use Greek Revival elements. The grounds include a formal garden, Collins Creek, old rice fields, a cypress-lined lake, and the former slave avenue. A surviving slave cabin and agricultural remnants are significant components of the site’s historical record. Harrietta Plantation was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1975. The property is currently owned by Harrietta Holdings, LLC, described in the reference material as a New Jersey limited liability company. The available material does not establish a public visitor program, commercial brand operation, or current management structure beyond that ownership information.

• 1975

  National Register listing

  [1]Harrietta Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Harrietta Plantation was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1975.

• 1947

  Sale to Mrs. John P. Abney

  [1]Harrietta Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  In March 1947, Mrs. Horatio Shonnard sold the approximately 1,500-acre plantation and its 17-room house to Mrs. John P. Abney.

• 1929

  Ownership passes to Horatio Shonnard

  [1]Harrietta Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The Doar family sold the plantation to Horatio Shonnard, who initiated restoration work on the house and gardens.

• 1903

  Rice cultivation ends

  [1]Harrietta Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Rice production at the plantation continued until approximately 1903.

• 1858

  Stephen D. Doar acquires the property

  [1]Harrietta Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Stephen D. Doar purchased Harrietta Plantation, completed the upper floors, and became the first resident of the house.

• 1807

  House construction begins

  [1]Harrietta Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Construction of the Georgian-style plantation house began for Harriott Rutledge and Frederick Rutledge under the initiative of Harriot Horry of Hampton Plantation.

A historic plantation property and architectural heritage site rather than a commercial product or consumer brand.

1. 1Harrietta Plantationen.wikipedia.org