Tom Magnolia Plantation was where we headed to after learning about the lives of slaves at McLeod Plantation. From reviews online, we knew that there would be different focus between the 2 plantations and it was apparent from the start of our visit. In this post, we’ll share the views of the gardens via the train ride that we took at Magnolia Plantation. Stay tuned!
About Magnolia Plantation Charleston
Established in 1679, Magnolia Plantation is one of the oldest plantations in Charleston. The Drayton family came from Barbados with 7 enslaved people as they already had sugar plantations and were slave owners before arriving in Charleston. Hence, they decided to come over to the next big English colony to do it all over again. However, due to the low country status in Charleston, they soon found that it was not hot enough for sugar to be grown but because of the lay of the land, a rice plantation was suitable.
For the first 30 years, the enslaved had to tear down the trees over the 2000 acres of land. It wasn’t until 1710 that Magnolia Plantation eventually became a rice plantation. What made the Magnolia Plantation owners wealthy was the crop itself – Carolina Gold Rice. It was known to be worth its weight in gold – making it rice for kings because it was priced at $30 per pound. As a result, 9 in 10 of the wealthiest people in Charleston were rice planters…
Magnolia Plantation Charleston Wildlife Center
As we arrived at Magnolia Plantation at 1pm and the next train ride that brings visitors around the gardens will be at 1:35pm, we decided to head over to the Wildlife Center first…
Many of the animals at the Wildlife Center are either orphaned or injured. They will be nursed back to health before re-integrating back to the wild. This time we saw animals such as vultures, ultra-plump chickens, goats and wild boar…
Many of these animals are free-roaming and kids can pet the animals that stroll around the compounds. There are 2 doors that guard the Wildlife Center, do note to close them properly so that the animals won’t escape! 😅
Before heading over for our train ride, we dropped by the Peacock Cafe…
At the entrance of Peacock Cafe, we saw that there was a BOGO (Buy One Get One) deal ongoing for beers. Hence, we decided to get the Apple Pie Gose (which tasted like a dessert in a can) and the Eggnog Shake IPA (which was very hoppy in taste). We also found that we were able to bring the drinks onboard the train – perfect for us…😁
As it was still slightly after winter, the greenery had not entirely returned to Magnolia Plantation. However, we were still able to see some fauna and flora this time…
Midway through the train ride, we stopped by the cabins for the tour – From Slavery to Freedom, which started at 2pm.
From where we left off above, Magnolia Plantation was a rice plantation and it was built upon the kidnapped slaves from West Africa for their knowledge in rice cultivation. To reach the Americas from Africa, it required 1 month of sailing, being chained from one to another and doing all “businesses” next to each other. As a result, there was usually only a 70% survival rate.
Back on the rice plantation, there was only about a 7 years life span for the enslaved that reached here. This is because the Carolina Gold Rice needs to be grown in waist-high flood waters. These are waters infested with alligators. Yikes! In addition to the over 200 alligators, 38 different types of snakes, mosquitoes and leeches, there were also diseases such as malaria and yellow fever that the enslaved had to contend with. 60% of the enslaved usually don’t reach to adulthood.
There were four cabins shown at the From Slavery to Freedom tour. Each of it shows a different time period.
The first one was from the 1850s, 2 families would stay in this cabin.
The second one was from the 1920s, during segregation. 1 family would stay in this cabin with the middle wall knocked down and used newspapers used for insulation (the ones within now are recreated).
The third one was from 1970s, home of Mr Johnny Leach – the head gardener for 30 years. His father was also the head gardener for 40 years. When Mr Johnny Leach died in 2016 at the age of 93 years old, he had 18 children – 2 of whom still works on the plantation. Mr Teddy Leach and Mr Isaac Leach – Isaac had recently retired after 47 years of working on the plantation.
After learning about the enslaved living on Magnolia Plantation, we took a train ride back and strolled around the plantation’s premise…
There was an additional cost of $15 for the Magnolia House Tour at 9:30am, 10:30am, 11:30am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.
Description for the Magnolia House Tour as follows:
“The Magnolia House you see today was built in the late 19th century and is the third house. The two previous houses were destroyed by fire—the first accidentally in 1810, the second at the end of the Civil War. This tour gives an overview of family life at Magnolia, focusing on the years between 1870 (when work on the present structure was begun) and 1975, when the house was opened to the public.”
There’s also a souvenir shop at the lower level where visitors get pick up some souvenirs at Magnolia House as well.
We also took a stroll down Ashley River inside Magnolia Plantation where formerly, ferries would alight passengers to visit the gardens at Magnolia Plantation…
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All in all, we had a excellent visit to Magnolia Plantation, exploring the beauty of the gardens and learning about the history of those who had worked on the gardens. An excellent venue for visitors to Charleston!
