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"R" is for Redcliffe

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"R" is for Redcliffe. Redcliffe, an antebellum mansion near Beech Island in western Aiken County, was the home place of governor James Henry Hammond and three generations of his descendants. Redcliffe served as a home place and an architectural and horticultural showplace. Transitional Greek revival in style, the structure also displays restrained Italianate elements, unusual for South Carolina. A spectacular center hall, 53 feet long and 20 feet wide dominates the interior. Much of the interior woodwork, including doors, library shelves, banisters, and mantles, was crafted from local sycamore trees. In 1935 John Shaw Billings, a Hammond descendent purchased the property and began extensive restoration. Shortly before his death, he donated the property to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. In 1975 Redcliffe was opened to the public as a State Historic Site.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.