Hewn-Timber Cabins

Located on the eastern side of the Francis Marion University campus are two historic slave cabins built around 1836. Listed on the National Register of Historic Place, they were built on the J. Eli Gregg cotton plantation, a part of which is now occupied by the campus (the president's house was the plantation home). The cabins were relocated here in 1971. The plantation's slaves who built them were skilled craftsmen, as evidenced by the cabins' hand hewn logs and dovetailed joints. Additionally, the slaves knew that the logs' resin would provide a natural protection. As a result, the wood has never been treated. According to the cabins' National Register listing, this level of skilled craftsmanship is not often seen in slave cabins. The university offers guided tours of the cabins by appointment between March and November.

J. Eli Gregg acquired the plantation from his father in 1836. The slave cabins were laid out in a "street" pattern, whereby they were arranged in two rows. Up to 14 people lived in the cabins. After the Civil War, during the period known as Reconstruction, many of the former slaves continued to live on the plantation and worked as low-paid sharecroppers. By this time, there were eight cabins and many were moved to other locations on the plantation; some were enlarged as well. In addition to working on the land, the tenant farmers also hunted, fished, planted gardens, raised livestock, and learned trades.

Many of these workers' descendants continued to live in the cabins until the 1950s. One of these individuals was a woman named Ms. Catherine (one of the two cabins is named after her), who married a man named Archie Waiters in 1933. They occupied both cabins for 20 years. The cabins contain some of their belongings as well as those of another couple, Janie and Edward Pinkney, who lived in another cabin. The Waiters moved in the 1950s when they bought a house. When the cabins were moved here in 1971, the additions were removed to show what the cabins' original size looked like.

"Hewn Timber Cabins." SC Picture Project. Accessed June 7, 2021. https://www.scpictureproject.org/florence-county/hewn-timber-cabins.html.

"Slave Houses, Gregg Plantation." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. July 22, 1974. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/cd58112b-a344-4ee0-af4e-95aff9e23b0c.