Gravel Hill Plantation is a historic

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

located near Allendale,

Allendale County, South Carolina Allendale County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,039, making it the least populous county in South Carolina. Its county seat is Allendale. History Allendale County was formed in 191 ...

. It was built between 1857 and 1859, and is a two-story white frame

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 ...

style dwelling with two small wings on a raised basement. It has a gable roof and a one-story

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

supported by four wooden square columns. It also has a

balustraded A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

piazza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

with five small columns on the east façade. Also on the property is a contributing two-story frame

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 ...

. Gravel Hill Plantation at one time had nearly 1000 acres of land and fronted Gravel Hill (Bryan) road, Ashe road, and Community road (known today as Gaul Branch road.) Also for many years, Gravel Hill was owned by the Bryan Brothers and the family operated a school on the property named Bull Pond School. The school was also used as a voting place. Notable neighbors of Gravel Hill were Erwinton Plantation to the west which exists today and is located on River road and also Bull Pond Plantation which was owned by the Flowers and Brown families and was located to the south across Community road (Gaul Branch RD) from Gravel Hill. It 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 ...

in 1976.

References

Plantation houses in South Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Houses completed in 1859 Houses in Allendale County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Allendale County, South Carolina {{AllendaleCountySC-NRHP-stub