About this property
The Callawassie Sugar Works is a historically significant industrial site at 29 Sugar Mill Drive in Okatie, South Carolina, on Callawassie Island in Beaufort County. The site contains the tabby ruins of two structures (the sugar mill base or foundation, and the boiling house) and archeological evidence of a third structure (most likely the curing shed). The sugar works, constructed circa 1815–1818, was a complex for processing sugar cane into sugar. Archeological and historical evidence suggests that the Callawassie Sugar Works was part of a larger settlement which included housing for slaves and possibly an overseer's house. The settlement was mostly constructed soon after 1816 while Callawassie Island was owned by James Hamilton, Jr. The architect/builder of the sugar works is unknown. It is conjectured that the sugar mill was built sometime within the next three years, and based on plans similar to mill construction seen in the West Indies. Research supports that James Hamilton, Jr., (1786-1857) was most likely the developer of the Callawassie Sugar Works (circa 1816). He was the son of Major James Hamilton, an aide to General George Washington in the Revolutionary War, and grandnephew of Thomas Lynch, Jr., a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He served during the War of 1812. Through marriage, James Hamilton, Jr., was nephew-in-law to South Carolina's largest and most prosperous rice planter, Nathaniel Heyward, and stepson-in-law to Savannah River investor Nicholas Cruger. These gentlemen shared close familial and professional relationships and entrepreneurial drive to develop and implement new industries such as sugar production. Hamilton had acquired several close and influential West Indian connections who were heavily involved in the Caribbean sugar trade. Hamilton sold the property and moved to Charleston, South Carolina in early 1819, leaving no documentation on the mill and its anticipated use. Apparently, the sugar works were still operational when it was abandoned as ashes were left uncleared from the furnace. The Callawassie Sugar Works' construction appears to be based on observations made by Thomas Spalding. It incorporated three principal components: a mill, boiling house, and curing shed. The footprint of the buildings suggests that the boiling house and curing shed were aligned in a "T" configuration (little remains of the curing shed). The remaining structures include exterior walls of the one-story buildings with the brick boiling train still evident in the mill. Primitive mills of this kind usually had a set of four kettles arranged in a line, the tops of the kettles being raised from the floor.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Callawassie Sugar Works listed on the National Register?
Callawassie Sugar Works was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 26, 2014.
What type of historic resource is Callawassie Sugar Works?
Callawassie Sugar Works is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Callawassie Sugar Works?
The period of significance for Callawassie Sugar Works is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1815.
Can I research the history near Callawassie Sugar Works?
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