Plantation Between the Waters: A Brief History of Hobcaw Barony

By Lee G. Brockington

Book Overview

Hobcaw Barony is a beloved 17,500-acre plantation and wildlife refuge on the South Carolina coast between Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

Plantation Between the Waters, by Lee Brockington, senior interpreter at Hobcaw, brings the centuries of history surrounding Hobcaw Barony to the public in remarkable clarity. The images and text provide an intimate glimpse into the lives of the people who have been connected to this unspoiled landscape for generations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596291060
• ISBN13: 9781596291065
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: History Press
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.7" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

A good place to start..

Through the many books that I've read about Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I've come to know about Wall Street financier and friend, Bernard Baruch. I've wanted to read more about his South Carolina estate, Hobcaw Barony, and found the perfect book in Plantation Between the Waters: A Brief History of Hobcaw Barony by Lee G. Brockington. The story of Hobcaw Barony actually begins before The Lord Proprietors in the 1600s. Brockington, a senior interpreter at the present Barony, explains the significance of this tract of land located on Waccamaw Neck and across from Georgetown. Before the Civil War, Georgetown County was the second largest producer of rice in the world. After the war, rice production was no longer economically profitable and many of the former plantations were bought by rich northerners. Baruch may have been rich, but he was actually born and spent his early childhood in South Carolina. He started purchasing land on Waccamaw Neck in 1905 and by 1907, he owned over 17,000 acres consisting of 11 former plantations. He used this vast estate as a winter family retreat and a hunting compound. Over the years, he entertained many important guests including FDR and Winston Churchill. Brockington gives us some interesting background on Baruch's family, especially his father--a Jewish Civil War surgeon. But the story of Plantation Between the Waters belongs to his oldest daughter, Belle. An equestrian, a hunter, an aviator, and a conservationist, Belle was a woman ahead of her times. She fell in love with Hobcaw Barony and over the years, convinced her father to sell her part of, and then all of Hobcaw. Wishing that Hobcaw remain in its natural state, Belle "created a trust to finance the plantation's preservation" after her death. Hobcaw is now a major center for education and research, working in conjunction with Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina University, the state of South Carolina, and various state and federal agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Plantation is filled with dozens of black and white photographs of the Baruch family, and especially, Hobcaw Barony (its buildings, wildlife, water scenes, and the people who lived and worked there). This book is not everything you wanted to know about Hobcaw Barony or the Baruchs, but it's a good place to start. Hobcaw is truly a treasure, nestled so close to the over-developed Myrtle Beach area. I hope to visit there on one of my trips to South Carolina.