Prewar grandeur

The plantation's fields continue to produce pecans and peaches.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- Spanish moss, Southern belles, white-pillared porches and cotton fields.
When we think of the grand plantations of the old South, we think of these things.
Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant has all of these and more.
Seven miles north of Charleston, Boone Hall is so quintessentially Southern that filmmakers chose it as the setting for two popular Civil War-era TV miniseries: John Jakes's "North and South" starring Patrick Swayze, and "Queen," which starred Halle Berry and was based on the novel by Alex Haley.
Avenue of Oaks
If you've ever seen either of these movies, you might recall pivotal scenes that featured Boone Hall's beautiful Avenue of Oaks.
In 1743, former plantation owner Captain Thomas Boone planted two evenly spaced rows of live oak trees on both sides of the long driveway that led to his home.
It would take 200 years for the spreading branches to meet over the road and form a moss-laden canopy that has continued to awe and enchant plantation visitors well into the 21st century.
Of course the enthralling "Avenue of Oaks" is only the beginning of the Boone Hall experience.
At the end of that unforgettable avenue sits the Boone Hall plantation house, a majestic presence fronted by stately white columns and flanked by manicured gardens rife with fragrant roses and camellias.
Although the original plantation house was destroyed in the early 1900s, the circa-1936 home that now graces the property has all the grandiosity and charm of an antebellum original.
In fact, the present home was actually constructed with old bricks that were hand made by Boone Hall slaves during the mid-1800s, and unless you are a diehard Civil War history buff, the current plantation house's "newness" won't bother you too much.
A look inside
Since Boone Hall's plantation house is a private residence and its owners live on the second floor, only the first floor is open for tours.
Here visitors can stroll through elegant rooms decorated with period furnishings and hear tidbits about Boone Hall's past and present from a sweet-mannered tour guide clad in a hoop skirt.
Unlike many antebellum plantations, Boone Hall remains a working plantation, and its hundreds of acres of fields continue to produce cash crops such as pecans and peaches.
But although Boone Hall is alive and well in 2003, it is the plantation's history that most visitors hunger to experience.
Slave cabins
Perhaps one of the most poignant places to do so is inside one of Boone Hall's nine original slave cabins.
The string of circa-1700s slave cabins is one of the few remaining slave streets in America, and each of the humble dwellings was once home to Boone Hall's house servants and skilled slave laborers -- the elite among the slave hierarchy.
With moss-covered roofs, uneven windows and walls of weathered, red brick, the forgotten cabins seem to whisper wistful secrets of the past.
If you visit the slave cabins at the right time of the day, you might find a few artisans about weaving baskets made of sweet grass.
After African slaves introduced sweet grass basket making to American plantations, the baskets became indispensable for daily chores and were sought after for decorative purposes.
Other buildings
Besides the slave cabins, other historical buildings on Boone Hall's grounds include:
UA renovated cotton gin house now used as a gift shop and restaurant.
UAn old schoolhouse that contains a collection of photographs and papers pertaining to Boone Hall's history.
UImpressive paddocks that were built for racehorses that belonged to Russian royalty.
UAn unusual, circular-shaped smokehouse that was built in the mid-1700s.
UA cotton dock that hugs the shores of a saltwater tidal creek once used to transport people and goods via barge.
XFor more information on Boone Hall Plantation,visit www.boonehallplantation.com or call (843) 884-4371.