Laurel Hill Plantation

The Sewee and Wando peoples inhabited this land that later became Laurel Hill Plantation. By 1694, Captain Robert Fenwick was granted much of the land that later formed the core of the plantation. Families including the Pateys, Boones, Hexts, and Rutledges also held portions of this property during the 18th century. Between 1833 and 1857, John Thomas Hamlin White purchased and combined several adjacent tracts into a single 1,735 acre plantation. Under his ownership, Laurel Hill was a diversified plantation where more than 120 enslaved men, women, and children labored to cultivate Sea Island cotton, raise livestock and crops, produce bricks, and ship plantation goods to regional and international markets. In 1864, Dr. Peter Bonneau, Confederate surgeon and signer of the Ordinance of Secession, purchased the plantation. During the final months of the Civil War, Union troops occupied Laurel Hill, emancipated enslaved laborers, and burned the plantation house. In 1874, prominent entrepreneurs, John S. and Frederick H. Horlbeck, purchased the plantation and incorporated the land into Boone Hall Plantation. Under the Horlbecks, Laurel Hill contributed land and resources to the enterprise, where agriculture, pecan orchards, and one of the Charleston area’s largest brick manufacturing operations functioned together. In January 1875, the Horlbecks subdivided about two-thirds of the original Phillips Tract that made up Laurel Hill Plantation. This subdivision established the core of what became known as the Phillips Community. In the 20th century, Laurel Hill was owned by John D. Muller, an avid preservationist. Upon his death in 1984, Muller instructed the trustees of the land to preserve it as “undeveloped beauty to those who may visit.” Charleston County Parks signed a 100-year lease in 2011. In 2015, Laurel Hill officially opened as a public park encompassing approximately 742 acres.