Barn, Frogmore Manor, Seaside Road, Frogmore

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS SC-864. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Only tabby outbuilding of its kind standing in Beaufort County.

Part I.. Historical Information

The tract on St. Helena Island which came to be known as Frogmore was granted to William Bull in and incorporated acres. From William Bull the property passed to his son, Lt. Governor William Bull. Part of the tract had been planted in indigo before the American Revolution, and Bull, who as a loyalist fled South Carolina for England, estimated the property to have been worth sterling. In his will dated Bull left Frogmore to a niece by marriage, Hannah Beale Stapleton, who put the property into the hands of managers.

Under such supervision, the plantation prospered, producing 133 bales of cotton in In their History of Beaufort County, Rowland et al observe that: By the slave population had grown to and the primary settlement on Seaside Road consisted of the main house occupied by the overseer, a barn, a provisioning house, a cotton house, a ginning shed and "18 negro houses" on the "street." 1 In the property was sold to William J. Grayson. By it was in the hands of Thomas Coffin who also owned Coffin Point plantation, another prime cotton producing property located at the eastern tip of St. Helena Island. Following the Battle of Port Royal in November of Frogmore was abandoned and passed into Federal ownership. Maps prepared for the U.S.

Direct Tax Commission in show that a parcel located southeast of Seaside Road which included the main house and barn described above was subsequently designated School Farm No. 25 this same parcel being purchased by Laura M. Towne for in Towne, who was to spend her life educating freedman families, re-worked the main house, adding a second story and altering interior trim in It also possible that she re-roofed the tabby barn, this work perhaps being undone by the hurricane of 1 Rowland et al. ,\ - BARN HABS No. (page 2) PART II. ARCHITECTURAL

Description

The barn at Frogmore is a single story, rectangular structure that measures north- to-south x 25'-3"east-to-west. Exterior walls are made ofload-bearing tabby cast to a uniform width of 12" in high vertical increments. Impressions show inner and outer formwork faces to have been tied with timber pins measuring 3" x 2" in section, positioned variably between 3'- 0" and on center. As preserved, the exterior skin stands to a maximum height of above present grade. During what was probably an alteration phase, two lower tabby walls (each 12" wide and standing to a height of 6"- 3" above present grade) were built at right angles to the west facade. These define an open bay measuring north-to-south x east-to-west approximately centered on the building's west face.

There is no evidence for any associated ~ ----rrarmng~--liow-ever It 1S""posSible That-tne -mocremshe_d_ building' s west side (reworked in follows an earlier enclosure which would have defined three open bays or stalls here. Although somewhat eroded, the north facade retains its original entranceway measuring Yi" in width. Top and bottom portions of this opening have been cut out, a circ~mstance which leaves its original vertical dimension uncertain. At the opposite end, the south facade has seen more extensive alteration, what was probably an original doorway having been enlarged out of recognition to facilitate the storage of bulky items or machinery inside the building.

The long north facade is blank except for three small rectangular openings (each measuring wide x 2'- 3" high) cut to light the interior during what was probably a secondary alteration phase. Small patches of stucco remain on the east facade but is doubtful if this finish is original although it prohab'ly replaces an earlier coating. J, .1 The south facade was originally blank, the present shed running along its length being open to the west. Inside the principal space, all the early timbers have disappeared, however sockets show that originally there was a timber floor raised or more above grade on 5"x 5" joists positioned between and on center. Joists spanned east-to-west across the building's short axis.

There is no evidence for intermediate support for the joists or any interior partitions. Today, the barn's main body is enclosed by a timber roof of gabled form, the roof space floored and lighted by an east facing dormer window. Probably introduced during the early twentieth century, the present roof was extensively repaired and partially rebuilt in Nothing definite is known about the structure's function or date. Its location, slightly northwest of Frogmore's main plantation house, suggests storage of cotton or some other vliTHrib1'e commodity, the sturdy original floor being capable of supporting substantial loads and BARN HABS No. (page 3) keeping stored items away from ground moisture.

It is possible that stabling for horses or mules was introduced along the building's west side during the later Antebellum period. Tabby fabricated using formwork measuring in height suggests construction after the American Revolution, perhaps some time between and when St. Helena Island sawiai:funprecedented period of agricultural development built upon profits derived from long- staple cotton. 2 It is also possible that the barn's present roofreplaces one destroyed during the "great" Beaufort hurricane of which brought devastation to local sea islands. PART III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION A. Bibliography Harvey, Bruce G., Colin Brooker, David B. Schneider, and Sarah Fick. Beaufort County Above- Ground Historic Resources Survey ofBeaufort County, South Carolina.

[Beaufort, Brockington Associates; Inc., Brooker Architectural Design Consultants, Historic Beaufort Foundation, and Preservation Consultants, Inc., Rowland, Lawrence S., Alexander Moore, and George C. Rogers, Jr. The History ofBeaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 1, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, + . Rosengarten, Theodore. Tombee, Portrait of a Cotton Planter. New York: William Morrow and Co., Inc., Salley, A.S., ed. Minutes of the Vestry of St. Helena's Parish, South Carolina Columbia: PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION This project was sponsored by the Historic Beaufort Foundation and by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) division of the National Park Service, Paul D. Dolinsky, Chief, HABS.

This report is one component of a larger survey of extant examples of tabby architecture within Beaufort County, South Carolina. The documentation was undertaken by HABS under the direction of Paul D. Dolinsky with assistance from Virginia B. Price, HABS Historian, who worked with Jefferson G. Mansell, (formerly of) the Historic Beaufort Foundation, Ian D. Hill, Beaufort County Planning Department, and Colin Brooker, Brooker Architectural Design "i..... ;:, :' 2 According to historic Resources of the Low Country ( other tabby structures once existed at Frogmore Plantation including a row of slave houses which were demolished in BARN HABS No.

(page 4) Consultants, to identify subjects of study and locate them in the field in and Colin arnQl,<:er,, whose research underpinned the project, wrote the historical report. Evan Thompson, no f ~ith the Historic Beaufort Foundation, assisted Brooker in the production of the reports. Jack E. Boucher, HABS Photographer, took the large format photographs.