16 Little Known Facts About Drayton Hall

Drayton Hall, July 26, 2019, Courtesy Drayton Hall Preservation Trust

Test your Drayton Hall knowledge with this quick “Did You Know” on Drayton Hall created by our curators. How many did you already know?

1. Drayton Hall was owned by seven generations of the Drayton family before becoming a historic site?
2. Drayton Hall was not a working plantation, but served as the commercial center of John Drayton’s plantation empire, which totaled 76,000 acres?
3. Some descendants of the enslaved community lived on the property until 1960?
4. John Drayton used architectural pattern books to design Drayton Hall?
5. A watercolor dated 1765 was mailed anonymously to the site in 2008? Until that point, the earliest confirmed image of the property dated to 1845.
6. Drayton Hall is an active archaeological site? Only 2% of the property has been excavated, yielding over 1 million artifacts.
7. Drayton Hall has a preservation department dedicated to researching the historic architecture, landscapes, archaeology, and decorative arts associated with the site?
8. The Drayton Hall desk and bookcase is thought to be the finest piece of furniture surviving from the American colonies?
9. Charles Drayton (1743-1820) kept a diary recording daily operations of Drayton Hall, and it can be found digitally on the Lowcountry Digital Library?
10. Drayton Hall was built as a Palladian five-part plan, with colonnade walls connecting the main house to two brick flanker buildings?
11. Drayton Hall was constructed by both enslaved and white craftsmen.
12. The Drayton’s wealth was built upon raising cattle, producing indigo, and growing rice, all of which were dependent on slave labor?
13. It took over 360,000 hand-made bricks to construct Drayton Hall?
14. Money made from phosphate mining on the property after the Civil War helped to save Drayton Hall?
15. Drayton Hall has a brand new visitor center complete with a new movie and galleries?
16. Charles Drayton enjoyed botany as a hobby and was close friends with famed French botanist Andre Michaux from whom he received many plants?