Voted the Best Place to See by Condé Nast Traveler.
Paul Woodward, conservation specialist from Richard Marks Restoration Inc., carefully removes layers of modern latex paint from the portico columns.
A geological deposit? Graffiti? A fossil? Preservation initiatives in 2010 to remove layers of harmful modern paint from the columns of Drayton Hall’s porticos revealed graffiti in the form of mathematical computations. Future research will determine whether such writing is associated with Charles Drayton (d.1820) and his efforts to repair the portico in 1815. Writing in May of that year, Charles mentions that an artisan named “Schnirlecame….& took the pillar down
Graffiti discovered on the portico columns.
safe & cleverly.” The discovered graffiti may be evidence of the calculations executed by Schnirle to correctly align and balance the new column. If true, this is the only written evidence surviving from Drayton Hall’s historic craftsmen.
Hannah Truman is a graduate student completing her MS in the Clemson University Historic Preservation program. As the 2024 Riley Collections Fellow, Hannah documented nail holes, extant hanging…
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I recently found a photo from the day my graduate school cohort first visited Drayton Hall. In this 2009 photograph, I’m seated on the portico with my classmates listening to…
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Recently, our archaeologists made an exciting discovery in our current excavation! We were able to connect this medicine bottle to a local pharmacy dating to 1875-1901. The bottle is associated…
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info@draytonhall.org
3380 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
Drayton Hall's main house and landscape are open to the public daily from 9 am to 5:00pm* (gate closes at 3:30 pm). The gate will accept no cash transactions.
