Lowndes Grove Plantation [266 St. Margaret Street]

Archive

-

Historic Charleston Foundation

Name/Title

Lowndes Grove Plantation [266 St. Margaret Street]

Entry/Object ID

LOWNDES.1

Scope and Content

Present house constructed ca. 1790, also known as Grove Plantation, F.W. Wagener Residence (Wagener Farm). The Grove Plantation was developed about the middle of the 18th century by John Gibbes. His plantation house with its large garden of exotic plants was destroyed during the Siege of Charleston by the British in 1780. It stood some distance to the southwest of the present house, which was built before 1790 by George Abbott Hall. The house was remodeled in the Adamesque style after 1804 when it was acquired by Congressman William Lowndes. The front piazza, with the Gothic Revival arches on the ground level, was added c. 1830 by the Rose family. Later this was the home of Capt. Frederick W. Wagener who kept a private racetrack on the plantation and allowed the property to be used by the South Carolina Interstate and West Indian Exposition in 1901-02. The house was used as the Women's Building by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames, who served Summerville tea. President Theodore Roosevelt had dinner here, on his visit to the Exposition. The Wagener Farm was acquired in 1917 by James Sottile who developed it into building lots and streets, leaving the Grove House with an entire block of grounds. Three files contain documentation of HCF's easement on the property including related correspondence, Subordination Agreement, IRS Form 8283, and appraisal report; Part I certification (National Register) (2009 application); documentation of HCF's assumption of the easement on the property including related correspondence and copy of the deed of conservation easement (LOLT); National Register application (submitted in 1978); narrative histories including report by Robert Stockton; newspaper articles (including DYKYC and about the sale of the property); plats (see Related tab), including photocopy of historic plat (Purcell); 1790 SC Gazette advertisement for the sale of Gibbes's land; excerpts from Historic Architectural Resources Survey of the Upper Peninsula. Copies of photographs are included in some of this documentation. There also are two files related to the Lowcountry Open Land Trust's management of the original easement on the property and its stewardship of it, including annual inspection reports, photographs, and other documentation and correspondence related to the LOLT's management of the property. The files will eventually contain documentation of HCF's management of the property, etc. See Easement Documentation Photo Files for easement donation photographs (Exh. B to Deed of Conservation Easement).

Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation Property Records

Acquisition

Accession

LOWNDES.

Source or Donor

Lowndes Grove Plantation [266 St. Margaret Street]

Acquisition Method

Collected by Staff

Lexicon

Search Terms

Easement Property, St. Margaret Street, Charleston Neck, National Register of Historic Places, Hampton Park Terrace/Wagener Terrace, Lowndes Grove Plantation (Charleston County, S.C.), Plantations--South Carolina--Charleston, South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition (1901-1902 : Charleston, S.C.)

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Property File

Archive Details

Archive Size/Extent

Document Box containing folders Gift, Management, History/Miscellaneous, Lowcountry Open Land Trust folders (previous easement manager)

Archive Notes

Finding Aids: Index to Property Files Level of Description: Folder

Location

Location

Container

Document Box

Shelf

Plantations Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

Location

Container

PF Box

Shelf

Prop File Shelves, Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

LOWNDES.10, LOWNDES.2, LOWNDES.3, LOWNDES.4, LOWNDES.5, LOWNDES.6, LOWNDES.7, LOWNDES.8, LOWNDES.9 Related Units of Description: See also Easement Manager's working files for more information.

Related Publications

Notes

See SC Expo photos from 1902, 2008.005.8-9.

General Notes

Note

Notes: Image in record from A Walk Around Ye Olde Charleston by Harriette Kershaw Leiding (Object ID #2005.001.02). Original easement was donated by the Cravens to the Lowcountry Open Land Trust (LOLT). HCF assumed the easement in 2007. Jonathan Poston (of HCF) advised LOLT on the drafting of the easement.

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

June 10, 2008

Updated By

admin@catalogit.app

Update Date

February 17, 2023