Stoney-Baynard Plantation: The Ruins in the Resort

In the middle of the Sea Pines Resort, along a quiet path through the trees, you can find the stone ruins of what was once the main house of the Stoney-Baynard Plantation. The walls still stand to shoulder height in some places, covered in moss and shadow, a remnant of an antebellum plantation that sat at the heart of this island's cotton economy for the first half of the nineteenth century. The plantation dates to the late seventeen hundreds or the very early eighteen hundreds and was one of several large operations that worked the island's Sea Island cotton fields.

The main house was built of tabby, a material made from burned oyster shells, sand, and water that was common in the Lowcountry and durable enough to outlast the structures it formed. The plantation changed hands several times before the Civil War. A later owner was Captain William Baynard, who acquired it in the eighteen thirties and whose family name has stuck to the site.

When Union forces seized Hilton Head in November of eighteen sixty one, the planter families fled to the mainland and the plantation houses were abandoned. The mausoleum built in eighteen forty six for the Baynard family is the oldest intact structure on the island. The main house ruins, now within the grounds of Sea Pines, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A short walking trail connects to the site. The ruins sit in the middle of a golf resort, which is a particular kind of juxtaposition that the island wears without apparent discomfort.