The High Hills of Santee, sometimes known as the High Hills of the Santee, is a long, narrow hilly region in the western part of
Sumter County, South Carolina. It has been called "one of the state's most famous areas".[1] The High Hills of Santee region lies north of the
Santee River and east of the
Wateree River, one of the two rivers that join to form the Santee. It extends north almost to the
Kershaw county line and northeasterly to include the former summer resort town of
Bradford Springs. Since 1902 the town has been included in
Lee County.
The county was named after
Thomas Sumter, who came from
Virginia, married a local widow in 1767, and with her became a successful plantation owner. He later became noted as a general in the
Revolution. After the war, Sumter represented South Carolina in the
United States House of Representatives and the
Senate.
The High Hills of Santee name has been in use since the 18th century,[2] when the area became a popular resort for wealthy
planters. They built summer homes in the region to escape the oppressive "heat and
malaria of the
Lowcountry" during the summer sick season.[3] In the 18th and 19th centuries, the High Hills of Santee was the location of many cotton
plantations, and had a large population of
enslaved Africans as laborers. Among the planter families were The Broughtons, The Dinkins, Richardsons, and the Singletons, whose daughter
Angelica married
Abraham Van Buren eldest son of
Martin Van Buren and served as
First Lady of the United States after his election as a widower president following the second term of President Andrew Jackson.[4]
The South Carolina
historian David Duncan Wallace placed the area in what he called the "red hill region" of the state. He wrote: "The High Hills of Santee paralleling the Wateree River on its east attain an almost mountainous appearance. The region contains much good land."[5]
Despite the short distances to
Columbia and
Sumter, the High Hills of Santee are relatively rural and isolated, as the area was in
antebellum times.[6]
Historic sites
Historic sites in the High Hills of Santee include three National Historic Landmarks:
Stateburg Historic District. It includes two of the area's three National Historic Landmarks: Borough House Plantation and Church of the Holy Cross, within its boundaries, plus at least eight
contributing properties, including:
Richard H. Anderson, Confederate general, was born at Borough House Plantation.
J.J. Broughton, Five generations of Broughtons with extensive land holdings dating back to "Kings Grant" of Seven miles of property along the Santee. Farming, cattle, logging and Broughton's Mill at Mill Creek. Plantation house located in Pinewood, SC destroyed by fire of 1937. Broughton Family funded the Baptist church and in the 1920s the Presbyterian Church in Pinewood.
The Wateree River was one of the first means of access to the High Hills of Santee. Manchester became its gateway river port. There were ferry crossings at Garner's Ferry near Stateburg and further south at Stark's Ferry near Manchester.
Roads
The major north–south road in the High Hills of Santee since the 18th century has been "Kings Highway". It originally ran from
Charleston to
Camden. It followed an older trail of the
Catawba Tribe. Today Kings Highway in the High Hills is
South Carolina Highway 261.[18] The major east west road is
U.S. Route 76/
US Route 378, a four-lane, divided highway between
Sumter and
Columbia, which intersects South Carolina Highway 261 just south of Stateburg. This intersection is 32 miles from Columbia and 12 miles from Sumter. The original Sumter to Columbia road was "Garner's Ferry Road," a part of which exists north in Stateburg. Most of U.S. Route 76/US Route 378 in
Richland County still carries this name.
Millford Plantation was sometimes called Manning's Folly, partly because of its remote location.
Railroads
An
antebellum branch of the former
South Carolina Railroad ran from
Wateree east across the river to Wateree Junction and then north on the west of Kings Highway through Middleton, Foxville, Dixie Crossing, the former Stateburg Station on Garner's Ferry Road, Claremont, Horatio, Hagood and then into Kershaw County. It ran through
Boykin before reaching Camden. At Wateree Junction, it met the
Wilmington and Manchester Railroad, which ran from Manchester to
Wilmington, North Carolina.
In April 1865 General Edward E. Potter and his
Union Army troops "discovered nine
locomotives and approximately 200 cars from the rolling stock of the Wilmington & Manchester and
South Carolina Railroads. His army proceeded to burn, blow up, and otherwise destroy these trains and tracks." During
World War II, much of the scrap metal from the wreckage was salvaged for the war effort. In 1997 the remaining rails and cross ties were removed.[19][20][21]
From Sumter today one railroad line runs west to Wedgefield and across the Wateree to
Eastover. Another runs southwest to Pinewood and across the Upper Santee River" connecting Remini and Low Falls, SC across the
Lake Marion now flooded swamp called Sparkleberry to
Calhoun County. There is no longer any passenger service on these lines.