The development of Fenwick Hall offers a glimpse into the early history of Johns Island. Fenwick Hall was John Fenwick’s primary residence in the Lowcountry. It was located on the Stono River at the modern-day intersection of Maybank Highway and River Road. He owned more than 3,600 acres of lands and built his Georgian style home in the 1730s. In addition to land, he owned more than 20 people. They built the grand home, sculpted the landscape, and provided the knowledge and labor to cultivate rice.
John Fenwick immigrated to South Carolina before 1703. He served as Commissioner of the Indian Tract, overseeing the uncolonized lands around the settlement. His older brother, Robert, was already living in the colony. John married Elizabeth Gibbes soon after he arrived.
Elizabeth was the daughter of Robert Gibbes, another prominent Carolinian. Gibbes was a wealthy and powerful landowner and one-time governor, sheriff, and colonel of the militia. He is the first recorded owner of the land that became Fenwick Hall. After their marriage, Elizabeth’s property became legally John Fenwick’s, including the lands that would soon become Fenwick Hall. In the 1720s, John began developing the plantation, including building temporary housing and clearing the forest for agricultural fields.
The house is two stories tall with a high basement. Like many Lowcountry homes of the time, it has two front elevations. One elevation faced the road, the other faced the river. The façades were constructed to be symmetrical, based on Palladian principles. The interior is not symmetrical. The contrast between the symmetrical outside and asymmetrical inside was an English adaptation.
Rice was likely one of the first crops John Fenwick had planted on Fenwick Hall. Colonial Carolinians grew rice to sell for high profits in Europe. Rice could be grown successfully in the area’s marshes, but building rice fields was labor-intensive and required knowledge and skill. Thousands of people were captured and brought from the rice-growing regions of West Africa because they already knew how to build fields, control water, and plant and process rice. As rice production grew, importation of Africans to South Carolina skyrocketed.
