Magnolia Gardens

I've already written briefly about the history of Charleston and its involvement with the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and today we visited the Magnolia Plantation to the north of the main city of Charleston.

This area is a quiet, beautiful space away from the hubub of downtown Charleston.

Magnolia Plantation is a beautiful area that has been

converted into gardens and a tourist attraction that talks about it's history and how it has become the place it is today.

From the start I was somewhat fearful the experience would downplay the involvement in the slave trade and simply be presented as a nature walk or a stately home with beautiful gardens, more akin to a Disney experience that a commentary on history and society.

To be fair to the people involved they did mention the situation of how those enslaved came to build the economy and the region around Magnolia and it didn't feel as if this was just an add on to do their bit. It genuinely felt as though they were trying to tell truth and recognise history as it occured.

We met the enchanting Vanessa who retold the story of how the enslaved members of Magnolia moved from slavery to freedom through the long, slow process of history. We viewed the living quarters and were astonished to discover they were used until 1990 to house some of the workers on the plantation.

I wont go deeply into the history but suffice to say the plantation was built on the growth of  Charleston Gold, a variety of rice that was able to flourish in the brackish waters of Charleston.

At it's height there were 195 enslaved people under the Magnolia umbrella. This was by no means a small, backwater operation but was of such significance that the landowners were amongst some of the wealthiest residents in the US, all off the back of enslaved people who had been forceably removed from their descendants in West Africa and treated like commercial goods in a market place.

If you wish to discover more the website gives an insite into the history of the plantation and proves to be fascinating reading.

Magnolia Gardens History

The space is full of wildlife and fascinating horticultural species. It is a wonderful place to visit but it has a dark past and the current owners appear to want others to know of it's history, warts and all.

Fact of the day......... apparently the swamp at Magnolia was the inspiration for the swamp from which Shrek originated!

P.S. Watch out for 'gators!