Yeamans Hall Plantation

The Goose Creek supported two antebellum plantations that have left distinctive marks on Hanahan that are very much evident today: Yeamans Hall Plantation and Yeshoe Plantation. The former was a 1,070-acre land grant made to Sir John Yeamans, perhaps as early as 1670. Mr. Yeamans had a home built of bricks imported from England on the land, which had as more than half of its perimeter the Goose Creek and Cooper River. He died before the house was finished, but his wife, Lady Margaret lived there until her death. The plantation was transferred to Thomas Smith sometime between 1677 and 1718, whose family owned the land for six generations, until 1900.

Legend holds that the British fired upon Yeamans Hall during the American Revolution, hitting the house itself, but relented upon noticing the Union Jack raised over the house. The Smith’s were thought to be loyalists when the British then headquartered their war operations for the area at Yeamans Hall.

Like many Southern plantations, Yeamans Hall went into decline after the War Between the States, and the house was lost in a fire precipitated by the earthquake of 1886. The Smiths thus sold the plantation in 1900. Seeking to reuse the land, in 191 5, North Charleston developer E. W. Durant invited the renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., to survey the land and assess its suitability as a golf resort. Olmsted came away impressed with its natural beauty, extended golfing season, proximity to Charleston, and its accessibility by rail, as did several other experienced resort developers. Mr. Durant, Henry K. Goetchius, architect James Gamble Rogers, and others thus organized the Yeamans Hall Company, which purchased options on the property from residential real estate developers, the Charleston Farms Company, in 1924. Mr. Olmsted’s design firm was commissioned to generate a “general plan” for the proposed Yeamans Hall Club, and Rogers designed its clubhouse, which opened in 1928 and still functions in its original capacity.

The resort is noted to be a destination of dignitaries and celebrities but retains a very private status. Unfortunately for Hanahanians, they do not benefit from this reputedly beautiful resource, despite its location within city limits.