The Charles Hammond House, located at 908 Martintown Road, North Augusta, South Carolina, was built on a bluff overlooking the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...

between other Hammond plantations, New Richmond and Snow Hill. The Charles Hammond House was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on October 2, 1973.

History

Dating from the Revolutionary War era, the columned Greek Revival home is thought to be the oldest residence in North Augusta, South Carolina. The home was built for Charles and Elizabeth Steele Hammond, prosperous planters who came to South Carolina from Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia in the 1770s. Martin Hammond, the progenitor of the Hammond family in South Carolina, arrived in Virginia from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

prior to 1636. The Hammonds were Patriots, and Charles and his sons served in the Revolutionary War. Also on the property is a granite monument in the shape of a pyramid which commemorates several of the Hammond family members who were Revolutionary War heroes.

Design

The Charles Hammond House exemplifies a typical architectural trend of nineteenth century South Carolina that turned plain eighteenth century houses into fashionable, columned

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

influenced houses. The house was originally a two-story pine clapboard structure existing from ca. 1775–1780. Also, on the property was a cellar as well as out-buildings including a kitchen and

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...

. Additions to the home in 1830 included front and side porches, an extension of the back porch, and a rear wing, producing an L-shape appearance. The house has a pipe stem chimney, unusual for the area. Of the three porches, those on the east and south are both two-story with four square paneled columns. The wench and pulley that was used to haul the heavy wooden beams and planks up for the second floor is still in the roof of the porch today. Also in 1830, an English gardener landscaped a formal garden for the front and side yards. A brick path was created, magnolia trees were planted, and the cedar lined entrance drive was created. Also on the property is a guest house and barn. A family cemetery is located adjacent to the home.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Houses completed in 1850 Houses in Aiken County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Aiken County, South Carolina North Augusta, South Carolina {{AikenCountySC-NRHP-stub