Woodburn or the Woodburn Plantation is an

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ...

house near Pendleton in Anderson County, South Carolina. It is at 130 History Lane just off of U.S. 76. It was built as a summer home by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Woodburn was named 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 ...

on May 6, 1970. It also is part of the Pendleton Historic District.

History

Although some indicate that Woodburn was built in the early 19th century, it is believed to have been built around 1830 by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1789–1865) was a son of Thomas Pinckney. He was named for his uncle Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. The younger Pinckney was lieutenant governor of South Carolina from 1832 to 1834. Thomas Pinckney, a brother of Charles, built his summer home "Altamont" in Pendleton. This house no longer exists. In 1828, Charles Pinckney purchased land in the Pendleton area. He constructed Woodburn around 1830. In 1852, Charles Pinckney sold Woodburn to David S. Taylor, who resold it to John Bailey Adger. Dr. Adger had been a Presbyterian missionary in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. Adger sold Woodburn to his brother Joseph E. Adger in 1858. It was bought by Augustine T. Smythe in 1881, who developed it into a model livestock farm with purebred cattle and race horses. William Frederick Calhoun Owen purchased the land in 1911, but he lost it through mortgage foreclosure in 1930. It was later sold to John Frank. Later it was acquired by the U.S. government and then by Clemson College. It is currently owned by the Pendleton Historic Foundation.

Jane Edna Hunter Jane Edna Hunter (December 13, 1882 – January 13, 1971), an African-American social worker, was born near Pendleton, South Carolina. In 1911 she established the Working Girls Association in Cleveland, Ohio, which later became the Phillis Wheat ...

, an African-American social worker, was born in 1882 to sharecropper parents on the Woodburn Plantation. She went on to establish the Phillis Wheatley Association in Cleveland, which was named to honor

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784) was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates, Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: Ameri ...

, a Revolutionary era African-American poet. Woodburn is now a museum home run by the Pendleton Historic Foundation. It is open Sunday and Saturday afternoons from April to October. Eighteen furnished rooms on three floors can be viewed. Adjacent to Woodburn is the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum.

Architecture

The original house was constructed around 1830 and enlarged in 1850. A

widow's walk A widow's walk, also known as a widow's watch or roofwalk, is a railed rooftop platform often having an inner cupola/turret frequently found on 19th-century North American coastal houses. The name is said to come from the wives of mariners, who ...

at the top of the house was removed in the 20th century. The house is a -story frame house on a full, raised basement. The house was covered in

clapboards Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

. The house is a "Charleston-type" house built to take advantage of summer breezes. It has two-story porch or

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

that wraps around three sides of the house. There are two sets of stairs leading from ground level to the first floor. These lead through

French doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

to either the parlor or the drawing room. Some of the second floor windows have hinged panels below to allow access to the veranda. The rooms have high ceilings. Most of the interior walls are covered with horizontal boards. The full basement has a warming kitchen and a dining room that is relatively cool on hot summer days. Exterior and interior pictures and floor plans prior to its restoration are available.

References

External links

*
Pendleton Historic Foundation
{{Authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Museums in Anderson County, South Carolina Houses completed in 1830 Historic house museums in South Carolina Antebellum architecture National Register of Historic Places in Anderson County, South Carolina Houses in Anderson County, South Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina 1830 establishments in South Carolina Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in South Carolina