Abandoned Plantation house in South Carolina
Allison Plantation, York South Carolina
According to family tradition, Allison Plantation was built by Dr. Robert Turner Allison ca. 1860. Born on August 17, 1798, at Henry's Knob in York District, Allison was educated in the country schools of the area; graduated from South Carolina College in 1821 with an A.B. degree; and attended Medical School in Lexington, Kentucky, where he earned his M.D. in 1825. He returned to South Carolina where he married Martha Burnett Clinton on April 23, 1829. He lived at Meek's Hill (site of Allison Plantation) and practiced medicine in York County for forty-five years. As an educated man, and as a Doctor of Medicine, he rose to prominence in the political affairs of his region. Also a businessman, Dr. Allison operated a drugstore that sold patent medicines and sundries, which local tradition indicates was on the premises of his plantation. In the religious sphere, he was a ruling elder of Beersheba Presbyterian Church. After his death on October 21, 1882, the Allison Plantation was transferred to his son Rufus Maitland Allison. The property remained in the Allison family until 1948.
Dr. Allison's interest in public affairs and his local prestige won him three consecutive terms as the York County representative in the South Carolina House of Representatives, serving from 1838 to 1843. In 1852, the citizens of York County elected him to represent them at the Southern Rights Convention. Dr. Allison was also elected as one of the York County delegates to the Secession Convention of 1860. There he signed the Ordinance of Secession.
Upcountry simplicity is reflected in the square posts supporting the portico; the unarticulated entablature, and the peaked windows which show vernacular solutions to classical and Gothic Revival detailing. The wide portico, the tall windows, as well as a central hall plan and high ceilinged rooms indicate intelligent design for a warm summer climate. Interior space, however, is still small enough to be adequately heated by fireplaces. Simple interior woodwork, as well as remains of wooden shingles in the attic area, and the use of the earlier brace frame construction, show a regional interpretation of architecture, materials, and methods. Backcountry attempts at sophistication and finery are visible on the marbleized walls of the central hallways; the woodgraining on doors, and the mantels which were painted to simulate slate.
Building Description
Situated in isolated woodlands on a 400-acre tract four miles west of York, South Carolina, the Allison Plantation House, constructed ca. 1860 as a residence for Dr. Robert Turner Allison, is a vernacular interpretation of the Greek Revival style. Local tradition maintains that the plantation house was constructed for Dr. Allison by Lawson Jenkins, a local doctor.
The Allison Plantation House is a two-and-a-half-story frame residence of rectangular shape with a two-room one-story frame ell on the building's northwest elevation. The gabled roof runs north-south and a pedimented portico accentuates the facade. Gable ends have deep eaves and triangular peaked windows set in the tympanums above boxed cornices. Paneled ridge straddle chimneys are' offset on north and south portions of the roof. The facade is three bays wide with trabeated entranceways, and double leaf doors opening onto the first and second levels of the portico.
Fenestration is six over six double-hung sash windows with pegged rails and stiles. Pillars of the portico are connected by simple balusters and guardrails.
West elevation retains a one-story frame ell and a one-story porch with square posts; two windows flank the portico, while three closely spaced window openings are on the second story. North and south elevations are two bays wide and feature triangular peaked windows set in the tympanums.
The roof framing is composed of four hand-hewn principal rafters connected to common rafters by a purlin beam. "Y" shaped braces directly support the north-south running purlins and the east-west purlin beams within the pedimented portico. Rafters meet at a4" thick ridge board. Studs are beveled and nailed to the purlins and rafters; pegging is used sparsely. Two principal rafters are mortised into large ceiling joists. Roof sheathing is of varying widths, from 1' to 2'. Remnants of wooden shingles are visible in the attic space. Weatherboard is nailed directly to wall studs. A hatch opens onto the north slope of the roof.
The foundation consists of 12" x 12" sill beams resting on brick piers and rough-cut granite blocks (on the ell).
The house follows a central hall, four-room plan. Fireplaces are located in longitudinal walls and mantels are constructed of wood planking painted to simulate slate. The flooring is 4" pine boards, while the baseboards are 6" in height. Interior appointments are spare; the greatest attempt at decoration is executed by marbleizing the walls, which have crudely drawn pilasters. This device is used in the first and second-floor hallways. Woodgraining is also employed on the double-leaf doors.
Accessible by a dirt road, the Allison Plantation is located approximately one mile off South Carolina Highway 40, and is situated atop Meek's Hill, overlooking a generally sloping and forested terrain. To the northwest of the main house is a one-story frame, tin-roofed barn with concrete footing, believed to have been constructed in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Directly west of the house are the remains of the detached log kitchen. A concrete pedestal for a windmill is south of the house, followed by a two-room, frame springhouse with a cooling stone. Just southeast of the springhouse is a one-story frame shed with a tin roof used as the smokehouse. To the northeast, across the dirt road are the dilapidated remains of Dr. Allison's Drugstore, a one-story frame building with a tin roof, and collapsed shed porch. Also northeast is a one-story greenhouse of recent construction, and southernmost is the probable site of slave quarters. Less than one half mile southeast is a granite mill, constructed prior to Dr. Allison's death in 1882.
