Drayton Hall Plantation
For some reason summer decided to end and winter sneaked up on us overnight, it was FREEZING all day! Of course, in comparison to Idaho weather we were blessed with a nice fall Saturday, but seriously, it was really cold! Nonetheless, we didn't let that stop us from touring the Drayton Hall Plantation. Can I just say that I feel bad for people who live in Charleston and never take the chance to visit the plantations. It's sad, they're missing out on so much history and culture. With that said, this is our favorite plantation and we really enjoyed every bit of it.
John Drayton built his plantation in 1738 just off the Ashley River. He was raised on the Magnolia Plantation with a silver spoon in his mouth and eventually came to own 30 plantations, tens of thousands of slaves, and many, many other properties and mansions including those along East Bay St. His family was among the first settlers in Charles Town and this plantation is one of the largest and the only one that has completely survived all the wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires and military bombardment.
This is the privy. It obviously is not connected to the house but is much larger than most middle class home's back in the 1700's. You can see in the drawing below what it looked like inside. It was a seven seater, made of mahogany wood so all the guests would know of the wealth that the Drayton's had. Notice the little child's potty on the ends and even the back and arms rests for added comfort. I think the Drayton's brought new meaning to the phrase "party pooper."
We're getting cozy in the privy!
The following few pictures in the interior of the house are of the intricate detailed woodwork done by hand, mostly from slaves.
This is the grand double staircase. It was painted a bright red so that when guests entered they new a lot of money was spent on the stairs, red being the most expensive paint color. The actual hand rail was left unpainted so guests could see the Drayton's used mahogany wood.
This is the basement where the slaves did most of their work such as polishing the silver and ironing. As you can see it obviously is no where as lavish as the the other levels. Just a fireplace and few walls for separation. 
Unfortunately, most of the other tourists in our group decided not to stop at the slave graveyard. It was unbelievable! They had about 30 known grave sites, only 8 of which were marked, but most of them you could see because the ground was so sunk in. It was astounding to see and since the weather was not cooperating that day, I couldn't really get a shot to show the depth perception. It was actually a very peaceful place, being several hundred yards away from the house in a little wooded area.
Archaeologists just started this excavation. This is the parking lot about 50 feet away from the slave graveyard. They've found remnants of bodies underneath the parking lot but since it was raining, it was all covered. It was very humbling to see this.
John Drayton built his plantation in 1738 just off the Ashley River. He was raised on the Magnolia Plantation with a silver spoon in his mouth and eventually came to own 30 plantations, tens of thousands of slaves, and many, many other properties and mansions including those along East Bay St. His family was among the first settlers in Charles Town and this plantation is one of the largest and the only one that has completely survived all the wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires and military bombardment.
This is the privy. It obviously is not connected to the house but is much larger than most middle class home's back in the 1700's. You can see in the drawing below what it looked like inside. It was a seven seater, made of mahogany wood so all the guests would know of the wealth that the Drayton's had. Notice the little child's potty on the ends and even the back and arms rests for added comfort. I think the Drayton's brought new meaning to the phrase "party pooper."
We're getting cozy in the privy!
The following few pictures in the interior of the house are of the intricate detailed woodwork done by hand, mostly from slaves.
This is the grand double staircase. It was painted a bright red so that when guests entered they new a lot of money was spent on the stairs, red being the most expensive paint color. The actual hand rail was left unpainted so guests could see the Drayton's used mahogany wood.
This is the basement where the slaves did most of their work such as polishing the silver and ironing. As you can see it obviously is no where as lavish as the the other levels. Just a fireplace and few walls for separation. 
Unfortunately, most of the other tourists in our group decided not to stop at the slave graveyard. It was unbelievable! They had about 30 known grave sites, only 8 of which were marked, but most of them you could see because the ground was so sunk in. It was astounding to see and since the weather was not cooperating that day, I couldn't really get a shot to show the depth perception. It was actually a very peaceful place, being several hundred yards away from the house in a little wooded area.
Archaeologists just started this excavation. This is the parking lot about 50 feet away from the slave graveyard. They've found remnants of bodies underneath the parking lot but since it was raining, it was all covered. It was very humbling to see this.
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