The barrier islands, like Folly island, protect the interior islands, like James island, from some of the harsher weather. I arrived at the plantation in time for the first tour of the morning that started at 9:30 am.
The tour guide was a man of African descent, from the Gullah Geechee people who were imported as slaves from the west coast of Africa and live in the coastal region of the southern United States... mostly in South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah part of the name is derived from the word Angola -- the name of the coastal Aftrican countries.
Many of the slaves were farmers back in Africa, and knew how to grow rice and cotton. They came from a diverse areas on the west coast of Africa, where different languages and dialects were spoken. In order to communicate in the new land, the slaves developed a mixture of languages known as Creole.
A display at the plantation mentioned that in many coastal locations such as James island, where the McCleod plantation is located, the Gullah people were relatively isolated until the 1970s, which helped preserve their culture and language. The Wappoo creek, which has a bridge now, separates James island from the mainland.
The McLeod plantation included a big house and several smaller buildings for the slaves. The current front of the big house used be the back of the house. The pillars and steps were added to the back of the house to make an impressive entrance for paid tours. That was before the plantation was purchased by the state as a museum. Evidently it is common to charge to view many of Charleston's old mansions.
Below is the original front of the house, which is on the opposite side of the house from where I stood in the above photo.
Sea island cotton was grown on the plantation. Slaves brought cotton growing skills from Africa and cultivated the cotton. The sea island cotton grown here was very high quality, with long silky strands that were much longer than regular cotton. Sea cotton plants also grew to 5 or 6 feet tall, wheras regular cotton plants were much shorter. The seeds were a protected asset that were often kept in safes to safeguard against competition.
Slaves constructed all the buildings on the plantation. The original plantation was much larger than what is left today. This brick in the wall of the cotton gin building shows the fingerprints of perhaps a small child.
Below are some of the buildings used by the slaves, including a colorful-windowed worship house.
The grounds had lots of live oak trees. An interesting fact about live oak trees is that their centers become hollow with age, so you can't tell the age of such trees by counting their rings. The first tree below is over 300 years old.
I spent the morning at the plantation, and then headed for Raleigh, about a 4-1/2 hour drive to the north. As I passed the South Carolina / North Carolina border on I-95, I saw the familiar Mexican-themed stores and restaurants that were a landmark even when I lived in North Carolina in the mid-1980s.
It felt good to stay with Dan and his family in Raleigh again. Dan's wife Jasey had quesadillas ready dinner. I got the same comfortable sleeping spot as before on the futon cushion upstairs.
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