modern understanding of pre-Civil War rice cultivation in the Lowcountry.
The
Preservation Society of Charleston is currently working with others to document Jehossee Island and secure funding for the stabilization + preservation of
Jehossee Island overseer’s house (c.1830) | Photo via Preservation Society of Charleston
History behind the land
One of the most productive rice plantations in the south with one of the largest enslaved populations
Prominent planter families owned 4,000+ acres in the 18th and 19th centuries
Owned by the Drayton family between 1776-1824
Rice Production
Relied on the labor of 700-1,200 enslaved people between the 1830s-1860s
Site included 84 wood-frame houses, a church, a hospital, a store + more