High Hills of Santee

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Historic Church of the Holy Cross, High Hills of the Santee, Stateburg

The High Hills of Santee, sometimes known as the High Hills of the Santee, is a long, narrow hilly region in the western part of Sumter County, South Carolina. It has been called "one of the state's most famous areas".^[1] The High Hills of Santee lies north of the Santee River and east of the Wateree River, one of the two rivers that join to form the Santee. It extends north almost to the Kershaw county line and northeasterly to include the former summer resort town of Bradford Springs, which since 1902 has been in Lee County.

The High Hills of Santee name has been in use since the 1700s,^[2] when it became a popular resort for wealthy planters to build summer homes to escape the oppressive "heat and malaria of the Low Country".^[3] They were joined by more humble settlers such as Thomas Sumter, who came from Virginia, married a local widow in 1767 and with her became a successful plantation owner. He later became famous as a general in the Revolution. After the war he represented South Carolina in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. In the 18th and 19th centuries the High Hills of Santee was the location of many plantations, among which were those of the Singleton family, which produced First Lady of the United States, Angelica Singleton Van Buren.^[4]

Noted South Carolina historian, David Duncan Wallace, placed the area in what he called the red hill region of the state and wrote: "The High Hills of Santee paralleling the Wateree River on its east attain an almost mountainous appearance. The region contains much good land."^[5] Today the High Hills of Santee is the location of three National Historic Landmarks, one National Historic District and other places on the National Register of Historic Places as well as recreational areas such as Poinsett State Park and Manchester State Forest.

Historic sites in the High Hills of Santee include three National Historic Landmarks:

Borough House Plantation, Stateburg,
Church of the Holy Cross, Stateburg, and
Millford Plantation, north of Pinewood.

Other places listed on the National Register of Historic Places include:

Lenoir Store, Horatio,
Magnolia Hall, Hagood
Pinewood Depot, Pinewood, the southern entrance to the High Hills
Singleton's Graveyard, south of Wedgefield
St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Pinewood, South Carolina)
St. Philip's Episcopal Church (Bradford Springs, South Carolina) and
Stateburg Historic District, which includes two of the area's three National Historic Landmarks, Borough House Plantation and Church of the Holy Cross, within its boundaries in addition to at least eight contributing properties, including:
- High Hills of Santee Baptist Church.^[6]

[edit] Notable residents of the past

Richard H. Anderson, Confederate general, was born at Borough House Plantation.
Mary Boykin Chesnut, author of A Diary from Dixie, was born in Stateburg, the daughter of Stephen Decatur Miller and his wife, Mary Boykin.
Richard Furman, pioneering Baptist minister, first pastor of High Hills of the Santee Baptist Church. Furman University is named for him.
John L. Manning, original owner of Millford Plantation and governor of South Carolina
Stephen Decatur Miller, owner of the plantation, Miller House, later known as Ellison House, governor, congressman and U.S. senator.
Thomas Sumter, early settler and general in the Revolution
Angelica Singleton Van Buren, first lady of the United States

[edit] Notable plantations and houses

The High Hills of Santee had many notable plantations, most of which grew cotton. Some of them are still in existence.^[7]

Bloomhill, Wedgefield

Borough House, Stateburg
Home House, Stateburg, no longer in existence, belonged to General Thomas Sumter, who is buried there.
Brookland Plantation House, Old Charleston Road (State Route 261), Stateburg vicinity^[8]
Homefield, Stateburg^[9]
James Hill, Stateburg
Magnolia Hall, Hagood
Marden, Stateburg
Melrose, Wedgefield, location of Singleton's Graveyard, home of Captain Matthew Singleton, built 1760.^[10]
Midway, Wedgefield
Miller House, later known as Ellison House, Stateburg, is a contributing property in the Stateburg Historic District.
Millford, Pinewood

Moor Hill, owned by Thomas Sumter, grandson of the general, and later by DeSaussure Bull, a descendant of William Bull II, who was five times acting Colonial governor of South Carolina.^[11]
Needwood, Stateburg^[12]
The Oaks, Stateburg-Wedgefield Road, Stateburg^[13]
Ramsey House, Poinsett State Park^[14]
The Ruins, Stateburg, originally owned by General Thomas Sumter, who was almost captured there by the British, who set fire to it. The partial damage caused by the fire gave rise to the name, The Ruins. A later owner was John Mayrant, Captain the in Continental Navy and the United States Navy, who bought it in 1802 and restored it.^[15]

San Souci, Stateburg, home of Edward Rutledge, who signed Declaration of Independence and was later governor.^[16]

Woodlawn, Stateburg

[edit] Places

Places, past and present, in the High Hills of Santee, include:

Bradford Springs,
Claremont
Dixie Crossing
Foxville, also known as Camden Junction
Garner's Ferry, formerly Brisbane's Ferry, originally Simmons Ferry
Hagood, formerly Sanders Station
Horatio, formerly Louellen
Manchester,
Middleton, formerly Clarendon Depot
Pinewood, formerly Clarendon
Stark's Ferry
Stateburg, formerly Stateborough
Stateburg Station
Wateree Junction and
Wedgefield

[edit] Transportation

[edit] River

The Wateree River was one of the first means of access to the High Hills of Santee and Manchester became its gateway river port. There were ferry crossings at Garner's Ferry near Stateburg and further south at Stark's Ferry near Manchester.

[edit] Roads

The major north-south road in the High Hills of Santee since the 18th century has been Kings Highway, which originally ran from Charleston to Camden. It followed an older trail of the Catawba Tribe, Today Kings Highway in the High Hills is South Carolina Highway 261.^[17] The major east west road is U.S. Route 76/ US Route 378, a four lave, divided highway between Sumter and Columbia, which intersects South Carolina Highway 261 just south of Stateburg. This intersection is 32 miles from Columbia and 12 miles from Sumter. There are also roads from Sumter to Wedgefield and Pinewood. The original Sumter to Columbia road was Garner's Ferry Road, a part of which still exists further north in Stateburg. Most of U.S. Route 76/US Route 378 in Richland County still carries this name.

Despite the short distances from Columbia and Sumter, the High Hills of Santee is still relatively isolated,^[18] just as it was in antebellum times when Millford Plantation was called Manning's Folly partly because of its remote location.

[edit] Railroads

An antebellum branch of the former South Carolina Railroad ran from Wateree east across the river to Wateree Junction near the former town of Manchester in the High Hills of Santee and then on north on the west of Kings Highway through Middleton, Foxville, Dixie Crossing, the former Stateburg Station on Garner's Ferry Road, Claremont, Horatio, Hagood and then into Kershaw County where it ran through Boykin before reaching Camden. At Wateree Junction it met the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad which ran from Manchester to Wilmington, North Carolina. In April 1865 General Edward E. Potter and his Union Army troops "discovered nine locomotives and approximately 200 cars from the rolling stock of the Wilmington & Manchester and South Carolina Railroads. His army proceeded to burn, blow up, and otherwise destroy these trains and tracks."^[19] During World War II much of the scrap metal from the wreakage was salvaged for the war effort. In 1997 the remaining rails and cross ties were removed^[20]^[21]^[22]

From Sumter today one railroad line runs west to Wedgefield and across the Wateree to Eastover, while another runs southwest to Pinewood and across Lake Marion to Calhoun County. There is no longer any passenger service on these lines.

[edit] Foot trail

The High Hills of Santee Passage is a hiking trail through the area and is part of the Palmetto Trail.

[edit] Gallery

Borough House Plantation	Portrait of General Thomas Sumter, c. 1790	Portrait of Angelica Van Buren by Henry Inman (1842)	Millford Plantation
Confederate General Richard H. Anderson born at Borough House Plantation	Mary Boykin Chesnut, whose famous Diary chronicled life in the South during the Civil War	Edward Rutledge, signer of the Declaration of Independence and later governor