Descriptions of Structures
at Historic Brattonsville

**Note: The numbers below correspond with those shown on the Site Map (you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file). Hightower Hall is not represented on our site map.  For more information about this antebellum era structure, click here.

1. Visitor Center
The Visitor Center was constructed from elements of a dismantled house from Chester County. Originally the home of the Ingram and Montgomery families the wood frame house was probably built around 1840.

2. Backwoods Cabin (a reconstruction)
Settlers traveled hundreds of miles to seek land, freedom and opportunity in the Carolina Backcountry. Their first homes, though likely crude and small like this log cabin, gave shelter to a family. Furnishings were mostly handmade from local materials. Precious items such as rifles, ironware and tools were brought with them or obtained by selling deerskins or livestock.

3. McConnell House
By the late 1700s and early 1800s, many families had lived here for a generation or more and their homes reflected an improvement in living standards. This house, made from logs shaped flat on two sides with a broad axe, was covered with clapboard on the outside and whitewashed inside. The owners were farmers who raised corn, wheat, oats, flax, tobacco and cotton, and tended livestock like hogs and cattle for their own use and to sell. This house probably dates to the early 1800s and was moved to the historic site from present day McConnells, South Carolina.

4. Milk Barn
This small mid-1800’s barn or stable was moved from the McGill Plantation in western York County. Family tradition claimed it was used as a barn for dairy cows.

5. Hog Pen
Until the late 1800s most local farmers did not put their hogs in enclosed lots but allowed them to roam freely. Our Ossabaw Island hogs, descendents of Spanish pigs brought to the New World 400 years ago, are very similar in appearance to hogs raised for food by farmers here for hundreds of years.

6. Tool Shed
The original use of this rectangular log building is unknown but it is currently used as a tool shed. It was relocated to the site from a farm south of Rock Hill, South Carolina.

7. Smoke House
Moved from the Alexander W. Love farm in Cherokee County, South Carolina. The attached shed serves as a blacksmith shop.

8. Corn Crib
Relocated to the site from a farm in North Carolina this log corn crib was typical of the structures early farmers built to store dried corn.

9. The Colonel William Bratton House and Brattonsville Female Seminary
The Brattons, a Scotch-Irish family from the Ulster Province in Northern Ireland, came to America in the 1730s. The family lived in Pennsylvania and western Virginia before moving to the Carolina Backcountry. In the mid-1760s, five Bratton brothers -Robert, John, William, Hugh and Thomas- began settling in what is now York County, South Carolina. In 1766, William Bratton and his wife Martha purchased 200 acres from Thomas Rainey. The original portion of this house, built sometime after 1766, is a single pen log house with one room downstairs and one upstairs. The shed addition to the rear was added at an unknown later date but probably by 1800. The Brattons had eight children, farmed, owned slaves, and were members in the Presbyterian Church. William served as Colonel in the militia during the Revolutionary War and fought at the Battle of Huck’s Defeat. He also served as a local judge, district sheriff, and state legislator. Taking advantage of the home’s location at the junction of several important roads, the family opened a tavern here in 1786. The main house is now furnished as a tavern where folks might have found a hearty meal and lodging. In 1839, William’s son, John S. Bratton, remodeled the house and added the side wing to serve as a school and teacher’s home. Catherine Ladd, a teacher from Georgia, was hired in 1839 as principal of the new Brattonsville Female Seminary. Instruction in academic subjects, as well as art, music and needlework, was offered. The seminary continued under various teachers until 1860.

10. Historic Markers
The DAR marker honors the Battle of Huck’s Defeat. The gravestone is a copy of one erected by the Brattons after 1838 to honor two of their slaves, Watt and Polly. The original still stands in the slave cemetary on the site.

11. The Homestead
Built between 1823 and 1826 this imposing house was home to Dr. John Simpson Bratton and his wife Harriet Rainey Bratton. Dr. Bratton was a son of Col. William and Martha Bratton. By the time this house was constructed the Brattons were a wealthy and influential family, so John and Harriet’s home and possessions reflected their high social prominence. The side wings were probably added by 1828. Dr. Bratton died unexpectedly in 1843. Harriet continued to live in the house and with the help of her sons she managed the large plantation. In 1853 she paid for the construction of a grand Greek Revival porch—a reproduction of it now graces the front of the house. She remained in the house until her death in 1874. Brattons continued to live in the house until 1915 when the last member of the family moved to York. The house was then occupied by a succession of tenants and eventually was abandoned. In the 1970s local concerned citizens rallied to save the house and restoration began in 1975. The house is now furnished to reflect 1840s taste and styles, and many of the furnishings were crafted in the Carolina Piedmont and show a distinctive southern furniture heritage.

12. Brick Assembly or Dining Hall
Built by 1840, the Assembly or Dining Hall was used for formal dining, concerts, parties and dances. The basement was likely used for food preservation and storage, and as a work area.

13. Brick Dependency
The original use of the first floor is unknown but the basement possibly housed the dairy. In 1850, Harriet Bratton owned 27 milk cows and produced 900 pounds of butter. This structure and the slave house (#35) to the south are original to the plantation. This building was probably built between 1828 and 1840.

14. Brick Dependency (a reconstruction)
This structure replicates one believed to have been located on this site. The original function of the building is unknown but may have been a slave dwelling.

15. Brick Kitchen (a reconstruction)
The center for food preparation for the family was the detached kitchen building. Here, enslaved cooks, likely under the direction of Harriet Bratton, prepared the meals for the family and their guests. Kitchens were frequently built as separate buildings for a number of reasons: to remove the heat, noise, smell and commotion from the family’s living area and to reduce the risk of fire to the main house. It also kept slaves and servants out of the main house. This structure was reconstructed on the foundations of the original building.

16. Storage Shed
Moved to the site from the James Love farm north of York, South Carolina this log building may have been a corn crib originally.

17. Woodshed
This log building was moved to the site from the James Love farm north of York, South Carolina.

18. Corn Crib
This large log corn crib was moved to the site from McGill Plantation in western York County, South Carolina.

19. Work Barn
This log building was originally located in a field west of Hightower Hall at the north end of the site. Its original use is unknown but at one time it was used as a dog kennel. It is currently used to display hand tools and for demonstrations of woodworking, leather-working and other skills.

20. Drive through Corn Crib
This double-pen or drive through corn crib was moved from McGill Plantation in western York County, South Carolina.

21. Barn
Moved from McGill Plantation in western York County, South Carolina this three-pen log barn served many uses on the farm. The central pen, with a raised floor probably served as tool, tack or feed storage and may have also functioned as a threshing floor. It may have also held cotton bales. The two pens flanking it were employed as stables for horses, mules or cattle. Above the two end pens were hay or fodder storage. Farmers frequently constructed shed roofs around all of or portions of their barns to protect the log walls from the elements and to also provide a covered area for animals and work.

22. Sheep Pen
Cotswold sheep, imported to the United States from England by the 1840s, were known for their long fleece and supplied wool for clothing and blankets. Cotswolds were perfect for plantation textile work because the wool, which grows about one inch a month, is thick, relatively soft, and easy to spin.

23. Chicken Coop (a reconstruction built from old logs)
Dominique chickens, an American breed that can be traced back to the mid 1700s, were the most popular breed in America by the mid 1800s. They were prized for their meat and eggs, their excellent foraging skills, the ability to withstand inclement weather, and their skill at hatching and rearing their young.

24. Poultry Barn (a reconstruction)
Buildings such as this log structure were sometimes built to house large poultry such as geese and turkeys.

25. Slave House (a reconstruction)
This reconstructed brick dwelling is built upon the foundation of an original slave house. On the Bratton plantation brick dwellings such as this one probably housed skilled and house slaves. There were at least four such houses on the plantation and all were likely built between 1828 and 1840. Other slaves likely lived in frame and log houses near the fields. In 1843, Dr. Bratton owned 139 slaves. Aside from their daily labors, the Bratton’s slaves were hired out locally as blacksmiths, laborers, and possibly brick masons and carpenters. Archaeological excavations here uncovered various artifacts including broken china, buttons, marbles, beads, and pieces of an ivory comb.

26. and 30. Pasture
Used for grazing and producing hay for livestock including horses, mules, milk cows, oxen, beef cattle, sheep, and pigs.

27. Outbuilding
This log building was moved to the site from the McGill plantation in western York County, South Carolina. Long referred to as the “weave house” this building’s original use is unknown. It may have functioned as a slave dwelling, detached kitchen or other work space. This log building sits on the approximate site of another Bratton log building.

28. and 29. Field Crops
The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 transformed agriculture in the Piedmont. Cotton was the most important cash crop in the upcountry during the 19th century and it’s cultivation allowed the Brattons to amass considerable wealth. Other crops were important too. Corn was essential to the farmer providing fodder for mules, horses, and cattle. Most of the corn grown on the plantation was consumed by humans, however, and it became a staple in most people’s diet. Wheat, rye, and oats were grown for making flour and oatmeal that provided a welcome change from corn meal. In 1850, the Brattons owned 6,000 acres of land with 2,650 acres cleared for pasturage and for raising cotton, wheat, rye, corn, oats, Irish and sweet potatoes, peas, and beans. Here you will see representations of the various crops raised by the Brattons through their enslaved work force.

31. Smith House (not open to the public)
This double pen log home was moved from Bowling Green, South Carolina to the site. The original portion of the house probably dates to the 1820s. It was originally the home of Thomas Hyde Smith.

32. Gin House
Moved from a local farm, this gin is located on the site of the Bratton’s original gin house. The gin house was raised on piers to accommodate the mechanical process that powered the gin. Mules or oxen pulled a round gear, called a sweep, in a circular motion generating power to the cotton gins located above, where cotton lint was separated from seeds. In 1850, the plantation produced 240 bales of ginned cotton, each weighing about 400 pounds.

33. The Brick House (not open to the public)
Finished by 1845, the original use of this building is a bit of a mystery. It may have been constructed as a home for one of Dr. Bratton’s sons or as the Brattonsville Female Seminary. After the Civil War, Napoleon Bonaparte Bratton renovated the house and added the rear two-story addition. He, his wife Minnie, and their three children lived here and also operated a general store in the house until about 1885. In 1898, Napolean and Minnie moved into the Homestead to live with their son, Robert Moultrie Bratton, and his wife Virginia.  To learn more about The Brick House, please click here.

34. Bratton Store Site ( site)
Around 1885, Napoleon Bratton built a new store beside his home. The Bratton Store, in operation until about 1915, carried a variety of goods, sold mostly on credit to local residents. The Bratton Store was destroyed by fire in January of 2004. Only the foundation stones and chimney remain on the store site.

35. Slave House (open to the public)
One of the original brick structures on site used as living quarters for slaves. It was built sometime between 1828 and 1840.

36. Store (not open to the public) A mid-1800s general store moved from the McGill plantation in western York County, South Carolina.

**Note: The numbers below correspond with those shown on the site map (you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file).

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