Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site

Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site is located in Union, SC. Rose Hill is a historic mansion that was home to Governor William Henry Gist during the 1800s. William Henry Gist was elected Governor of SC in 1858. Rose Hill was an active cotton plantation for 128 years and covered 2000 acres at the time. There are four magnolia trees at the front of the mansion that is estimated to be about 200 years old. South Carolina State Park Service acquired Rose Hill Plantation in 1960 and protects 44 acres. There are five historic buildings at this historic site. The Gist family cemetery is about a mile away where fourteen members of the Gist family are buried.

Rose Hill was one of the largest enslaved communities in the area and had 178 slaves at one time. Most of the slaves worked in the cotton fields. Many left the plantation in 1865 when they became free but some chose to stay and become tenant farmers.

William Henry Gist became governor just before the Civil War. One of his last acts was to call for a succession convention. Governor Gist and 169 other men signed the Ordinance of Secession on December 20, 1860. This secession led to war and three of the sons joined the Confederate Army.

You can take a guided tour of the house for $10 per person. There is a park store and gift shop. There hiking trails and picnic shelters also. You can walk around the grounds to look at the gardens, trees, birds, and historic structures.

When we visited there, we were told that the house was haunted and some people have seen a ghost in the window. I don't know if that is true or not but it is fun to imagine. According to Most Haunted Places in South Carolina, “One of the most haunted plantations in the country, the Rose Hill Plantation was built in 1827 and the family lived, died and was buried right there on the property! Their ghosts are still said to roam the property in both the house itself and the on-site cemetery.”