Otranto Plantation Indigo Vats are historic

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

vats located near Goose Creek,

Berkeley County, South Carolina Berkeley County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 229,861. Its county seat is Moncks Corner. After two previous incarnations of Berkeley County, the current county was created in 1882. B ...

. Indigo vats are where fermentation and settlement processes for production of indigo dyestuff were accomplished. Each vat measures approximately 14 feet square and has a stuccoed interior. The upper vat, known as the "steeper vat", was used for the fermentation of indigo plants with the liquor drawn through a small portal into the "beater vat" below. The liquor was agitated, allowed to settle, and the remaining sludge strained, molded into cakes, and dried. The Otranto Plantation Indigo Vats were relocated by the Verona Chemical Company, later Mobay Corporation, from

Otranto Plantation Otranto Plantation is a historic plantation house located in Hanahan, Berkeley County, South Carolina. It was built before 1778, and is a 1 1/2-half story, rectangular gable-roofed stuccoed brick dwelling. It has an attached colonnaded piazza, ...

to their present site in 1979 to save them from demolition. They are the only such structures know to be in existence in South Carolina. It was listed in 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 ...

in 1989.

References

Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Buildings and structures in Berkeley County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley County, South Carolina Indigo structure dyes Goose Creek, South Carolina Plantations in South Carolina Dyes {{SouthCarolina-plantation-stub