Year-round events keep the Charleston area buzzing. Music and tempting aromas fill the air. Witness world-renown performances at Spoleto, get a taste of our heritage at a small town oyster roast or discover the find of a lifetime at an antique show. With so many events taking place, you'd better mark your calendar now.
Drayton Hall House Tours on the Hour beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Drayton Hall’s professional interpreters will introduce visitors to a house that has survived for 270 years - the only 18th-century plantation house on the Ashley River to survive intact to present day and the oldest preserved plantation house in America that is still open to the public. Visitors will read America’s history everywhere they look – from the beauty of the architectural details and the aged paint on the walls, to what is perhaps the oldest intact decorative ceiling in the United States – a rare opportunity to view the techniques and materials that were used prior to 1750 and to immerse oneself in a sense of timelessness and continuity. Visitors will also hear the stories of the families, both white and black, who lived and worked here for generations. Approximately 50 minutes; included with regular admission.
Daily at 11:15 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 3:15p.m.
Connections Program: From Africa to America
Who were the enslaved Africans at Drayton Hall? This 45-minute program uses maps, historic documents, and artifacts to trace their story from Africa to the new world and through slavery, emancipation, and into the 20th century. Participants can expect to read through slave lists and plantation records describing a day's work in the rice fields and to hear about the skills of enslaved people that helped make the plantation prosper. They’ll also explore archaeological discoveries made at Drayton Hall revealing details of African-American life. Included with regular admission.
A Sacred Place: The African-American Cemetery
All day, every day, from the time Drayton Hall's opens it gates until they close, guests may visit A Sacred Place, the cemetery and final resting place of at least 33 souls — African-Americans who lived and worked at Drayton Hall, including Richmond Bowens, who was born there in 1908 and buried there in 1998. Once at the heart of a community of families tending their small frame houses, swept dirt yards, vegetable gardens, outbuildings, and fields, this cemetery represents the view that death was not something isolated from community life but integral to it. Today, the cemetery is a tranquil place that offers an opportunity for private reflection. Included with regular admission.
Available All Day
“The Voices of Drayton Hall” Interactive Landscape Tour on DVD
Visitors can experience Drayton Hall through the stories and voices of its people in a new, self-directed landscape tour on DVD that is the first of its kind in the South and a companion piece to Drayton Hall’s professionally guided house tour. Now, visitors can dig deeper into a favorite topic or skip ahead at any point during the program — taking as much time as they like at any point during their visit. They’ll discover never-before-seen images and documents from Drayton Hall’s archives and listen to the voices of Drayton Hall descendants, both black and white. The DVD puts the visitor in charge of not only what they learn but also how much time they spend, based on their interests and schedule. Produced by The History Channel. Visitors can rent the DVD and a user-friendly, portable DVD player for an additional fee of $7.00; each player comfortably accommodates two adults or a family of four.
05/01/2008 - 07/31/2008
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