Millwood, Historic plantation ruins in Richland County, South Carolina.
Millwood is a plantation ruin in Richland County, South Carolina, displaying remnants of a residence from the early United States period. The surviving structural elements feature Doric columns and balanced proportions characteristic of the architectural style of that time.
Wade Hampton II built a raised two-story cottage on his Mill Tract before 1818, the year his son Wade Hampton III was born there. In 1837 or 1838 the house was remodeled in Greek Revival style by Rhode Island architect Nathaniel Potter, with a six-column central portico and three-column wings; the work took about two years. After Hampton II died in 1858, his four unmarried daughters inherited it. On February 17, 1865, Sherman's troops burned the house; the ruins were listed on the National Register on March 18, 1971.
The ruins reveal how families organized their daily lives and managed agricultural work on these lands. Walking through the site, visitors can observe traces of residential patterns and farming practices from that era.
The ruins stand at 6100 Garner's Ferry Road (US 76), south of downtown Columbia. The site is an open, unstaffed ruin; there are no facilities or marked paths. Visit in daylight and wear sturdy shoes, as the ground around the columns and foundations is uneven.
Visitors often assume the twelve columns were all that stood at Millwood, but six shorter columns once fronted the wings and were later torn down. Around 1930 one of the round columns toppled; its base still lies on the ground beside the three round and two square columns that remain.
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