Join Drayton Hall Director of Archaeology Luke Pecoraro on a walking tour of Drayton Hall in Charleston, SC on October 21, 2023 at 10:00am. Our guests will tour the Stephen J. Wood Conservation Lab and north side of the main house to learn more about the current archaeological investigations and planned work to explore the designed 18th & 19th c. landscape.

Plantations in the American South have been historically characterized as “small rural villages”, and Drayton Hall certainly fits this description. From primary accounts of Charles Drayton in the early 19th c. there are records of at least 30 structures on the landscape, in addition to planned gardens, walks, and water features. Though much of this has been lost over time, archaeological investigations beginning in the 1970s and continuing to present continue to reveal what the plantation looked like, in addition to providing clues to what daily life was like for the Native American, enslaved labor force, and the Drayton family over time.