Springfield Plantation House is the oldest wood-frame house in

Fort Mill, South Carolina Fort Mill, also known as Fort Mill Township, is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 24,521. Some businesses and residents in th ...

and was the site of one of the last meetings of the Confederate cabinet. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1985.

History

The house was originally constructed between 1790 and 1806 by John Springs III and his wife first occupied the house. At one time, the plantation was . In the 1850s, the house was extensively remodeled by Andrew Baxter Springs and his architect, Jacob Graves of Columbia. In 1946, Elliot White Springs put on an addition toward the rear, and modernized the house with electricity, plumbing and central heat. The house and plantation was the site of one of the last meetings of the Confederate cabinet. President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

and several of his cabinet officers spent the night of April 26, 1865 at the plantation. The next day, they held a meeting to plan their further retreat. The owner of the plantation, Andrew Baxter Springs, recommended that they travel separately to avoid capture.

Architecture

The house is a two-story, white weatherboard house with a gable roof and pedimented gable ends. There are two one-story wings on either side with gable roofs. There is a one-story porch with hipped roof supported by eight Ionic columns. There are five windows across the second story and four windows and a double entrance door across the first story. Each wing has two windows on the front side of the house. The main block as brick corbeled chimneys on both ends. There is a two-story addition toward the rear. The house has a composition roof.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Houses completed in 1806 Houses in York County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in York County, South Carolina {{YorkCountySC-NRHP-stub