Fair Forest Plantation - Union County South Carolina SC

Fair Forest Plantation – Union – Union County



Basic Information

  • Location – Fairforest Creek (a branch of the Tyger River), Ninety Six District, southwest of the City of Union, Union County

    2403 Crosskeys Highway - State Road 49

  • Origin of name – Named for the Fairforest Creek that runs through the area (4)

  • Other names – Fletchall's; Nicholson Mansion; Forest Hills

  • Current status – Operated as a bed and breakfast and special events venue

Timeline

  • 1772 – Earliest known date of existence

    Colonel Thomas Fletchall received a 500 acre grant (5, Volumes I-XII, p. 222)

  • ? – House built

    Colonel Thomas Fletchall, a gentleman farmer, built a house at Fair Forest. It would have been located on the south side of Fairforest Creek on 365 acres. On the north bank of the creek he owned 250 acres where he operated a saw mill and at least two grist mills (3, p. 26-27).

  • 1775 – Colonel Fletchall was a Loyalist, and on December 9 he was arrested for breaking the Treaty of Ninety Six. The Patriots found him hiding in a large sycamore tree downstream from his mills (3, p. 29-30).

  • 1776 – Colonel Fletchall was released from prison, and upon returning to his plantation he found it looted. His family along with their slaves proceeded to rebuild the place (3, p. 33).

  • 1780 – On October 10 Colonel Fletchall fled to Charleston for the safety of himself and his family. He left with his wife, five children, and fourteen slaves. He never returned to his plantation (3, p. 38).

  • 1782 – The Fletchall family and slaves left for Jamaica on December 1. Fletchall's property was confiscated and sold at auction the same year. Colonel Thomas Brandon, a local hero, purchased most of Fletchall's property. Colonel Fletchall petitioned the Crown for compensation of lost property. He claimed to have lost his house, 2,665 acres, 3 good slaves that were stolen as well as 45 head of black cattle, 40 head of sheep, 60 hogs, and 560 bushels of corn, wheat, and rye (3, p. 46).

  • 1802 – Colonel Brandon died at Fair Forest Plantation (4).

  • ? – Emslie Nicholson acquired the plantation (4).

  • 1923 – Nicholson built a Tudor Revival mansion near the site of the plantation's original house (4).

  • 2006 – Patrick and Lynn Mornanes purchased Fair Forest and spent four years restoring and furnishing the house (4).

Land

  • Number of acres – 615 in 1775 and 1782; 14 in 2014 (3) (4)

  • Primary crop – Corn, wheat, and rye

    There is a cedar tree drive lined with 200 year old trees (4)

Slaves

  • Number of slaves – At least 14 in 1780 (3, p. 38)

Buildings

  • There have been two houses built at Fair Forest Plantation. In 1923, Nicholson built a Tudor Revival mansion near the site of the plantation's original house using local fieldstone (4).

References & Resources

  1. Biography of Colonel Thomas Fletchall

  2. Biography of Colonel Thomas Brandon

  3. Allan D. Charles, Narrative History of Union County South Carolina (Greenville, SC: A PRESS Printing Company, 1997)
     Order Narrative History of Union County South Carolina

  4. History of Nicholson Mansion at Fairforest Creek: Click here

  5. Claude Henry Neuffer, editor, Names in South Carolina, Volume I through 30 (Columbia, SC: The State Printing Company)
     Order Names in South Carolina, Volumes I-XII, 1954-1965
     Order Names in South Carolina, Index XIII-XVIII

Contact Information
  • Nicholson Mansion at Fairforest Creek
    2403 Crosskeys Highway - State Road 49
    Union, SC 29379

    Telephone: 864-424-9042
    Website: Click here





SC Plantation Inns
SC Plantation Tours
SC Plantation Pictures
SC Plantations by Place
SC Plantation Weddings



Abbeville County
Aiken County
Allendale County
Anderson County

Bamberg County
Barnwell County
Beaufort County
Berkeley County

Calhoun County
Charleston County
Cherokee County
Chester County
Chesterfield County
Clarendon County
Colleton County

Darlington County
Dillon County
Dorchester County

Edgefield County

Fairfield County
Florence County

Georgetown County
Greenville County
Greenwood County

Hampton County
Horry County

Jasper County

Kershaw County

Lancaster County
Laurens County
Lee County
Lexington County

Marion County
Marlboro County
McCormick County

Newberry County

Oconee County
Orangeburg County

Pickens County

Richland County

Saluda County
Spartanburg County
Sumter County

Union County

Williamsburg County

York County


Flower photographs by Virginia Saunders, Columbia, SC. Please click flower for more info.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Are you able to correct
an error?
Please click here.


SouthCarolinaPlantations.com
is maintained as a public service by

South Carolina

Home Edit Info Contact

HomeCorrect InfoSearchContact