Ashley River Road

Story of the Byway

Visitors can discover the history of European and African settlement, commerce, and industry from colonial times to the present by travelling along the Ashley River Road, the oldest road still in use in South Carolina. This corridor is particularly significant to the area because it demonstrates the first colonial efforts to develop and maintain roads and waterways for public benefit.

Though the earliest settler’s maps do not show any roads in the area, it is believed that the Ashley River Road follows a Native American trading route. Settlements grew along the south side of the Ashley River, and panthers were cut from the Ashley River Plantations to Charles Town, today Charleston, as early as 1671. In 1691, an Act of the General Assembly authorized the construction of the Ashley River Road from Charleston to the Ashley Barony, and in 1719, an additional statute allowed the extension of the Ashley River Road from Jacob’s Creek to Westoe Savana, which was completed by 1721. The modern Ashley River Road follows the same route found on the Lodge-Cook Map of 1771, making it the oldest South Carolina Road still in use. As visitors travel along the byway, they can enjoy scenic views of the Ashley River, shaded by trees that very possibly date back from 1721 or early as in 1721, the General Assembly prohibited the cutting of shade trees along the road.

The byway begins just outside of Charleston on South Carolina Highway 61. Visitors will first encounter St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and Springfield Baptist Church. Built in 1706, the Old St. Andrew’s Church is the oldest surviving structure used for worship south of Virginia and is South Carolina’s only remaining cruciform church. Behind Ashley Road’s tall trees, visitors should try to spot Fort Bull, Confederate Earthworks. The Earthworks defense was built by 1863 by slave labor in defense of Charleston. From this point during the Revolutionary War, the British had staged their recapture of Charleston, so it is likely that it was built with this historical memory in mind; however, it was abandoned by the time the Union troops arrived

The route continues to Drayton Hall. Drayton Hall was an active rice plantation that relied on enslaved workers for its profitability up until the time of the Civil War. The former plantation honors the voices of the enslaved community that lived and labored on the plantation. Drayton Hall was the only great hall to survive the fire started by the Union Troops along Ashley River Road. Nearby is what remains of the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Although the plantation home was burned down during the Civil War, visitors can still explore the oldest public gardens in the United States and visit exhibits on the plantation’s history. The final stop on the byway is Middleton Place. Middleton Place is a historic plantation dating back to colonial times, featuring a house museum, gardens, working stable yards, and enslaved quarters although the original main house had been burned down during the Civil War. By travelling along this byway, visitors will come in contact with the beauty of South Carolina’s sceneries and learn about the history of the nation.