A Brief History of Magnolia Gardens

Who said it isn’t fun going to a museum? And we’re not talking about Ben Stiller at night.

If you head down Ashley River Road away from West Ashley toward Summerville, you’ll be blessed to find what seems to be a never-ending canopy of the most beautiful trees you can imagine. It seems to lead on for miles. (Mostly because it does.) If you turn right as the signage leading to Magnolia Gardens advises, you’ll be greeted by a landscape out of the movies. Green and lush, epic and stately.

Simple fact: Magnolia Gardens is one of the oldest Plantations in the South. But, what’s the history of the original 1,872 acres that make up this former Plantation?

Thomas and Ann Drayton (yes, the same Draytons of Drayton Hall) decided to build a small home with a garden. They received this from Steven Fox (Ann’s father) after he purchased it from Morris Matthews - one of the earliest settlers in the area - who received a warrant for 750 acres of land.  But their plans wouldn’t be satisfied with that. Over the next 175 years, the desires of the family would grow and encapsulate rice farming. During the Colonial Period, South Carolina was the largest producer of rice in America.

There is a dark and malevolent past within the gates of the grounds as with all of those types of businesses in the South at this point. There were upwards of 325 enslaved peoples working the property to keep the wheels of the pre-industrial America turning. Most were brought in chains from Barbados to work the extensive rice fields.

The African slaves empowered themselves in the best way they knew how by creating a new form of communication—a creolized language. The Gullah and Geechee heritage still thrives here and if you ever want to hear a shout from the past, just ask someone fluent in these languages to share them with your ears.

Shedding the literal shackles of its past, Magnolia went through a transformation in the 1840s. Reverend John Grimke-Drayton inherited the property and wanted to do something special with the land that might not be tied to the soon to be outdated thought processes of enslavement. His horticultural genius would move the camellia out of doors and introduce the azalea to America.

Even though the property and its owners were attempting to move away from its controversial past, it couldn’t separate itself from its actual location. During the Civil War, the original plantation home was burned and most of the property was destroyed. With the loss of the War and the steep economic downturn in all of the Southern American states, John Drayton was forced to sell most of his land just to save some of it.

The property has dwindled to the 390 acres that make up the estate today. It still remains within the control of the Drayton Family after over fifteen generations. But, due to the foresight of John Drayton, the ornamental wholesale plant nursery keeps the lights on and the doors open to this day.

Where to begin with all of the activities that represent that sprawling landscape that is Magnolia?There are seven bridges on the grounds; most notably the Long Bridge. A Wildlife Refuge where you can wander with some of the more common nonfatal fauna. But, don’t worry about those from the Lowcountry that might want to eat you. They’re safely tucked away in the Zoo area. Also worthy of mention are the replica of England’s Hampton Court Maze and the Barbados Indoor Tropical Garden.

It wouldn’t be part of the Holy City without something from the Bible being referenced. The Biblical Garden has areas where the Old and New Testaments are referenced through the plants that adorn the area.

While some museums represent the bones from a past long forgotten, others - like Magnolia Gardens - are a place where everyone can interact and experience history first-hand.

~ Brandon L. Joyner