Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens
1615 Blanding Street

The Hampton-Preston Mansion epitomizes the lives of the planter elite in antebellum South Carolina. Both the Hamptons and the Prestons moved in the highest social and political circles of Columbia society. Their wealth came from cotton plantations in Columbia and sugar cane plantations in Louisiana, on which hundreds of slaves labored.

Ainsley Hall, a wealthy Columbia merchant, built the house in 1818. After Wade Hampton I bought the property in 1823, he altered the house considerably. The exterior of the house received a stucco finish, scored to appear like cut stone. Mary Cantey Hampton, his third wife, designed elaborate gardens that surrounded the mansion.

At his death in 1835, Wade Hampton I was reported to be the wealthiest man in the United States. An astute businessman, he was one of the first to use water-powered cotton gins.

Hampton's daughter, Caroline and son-in-law, John Preston moved into the house after his death. During their tours of Europe, they purchased fine and decorative arts that attest to the farm's wealth. Between 1845-1850, the Prestons doubled the size of the house with an addition to the north facade.

Serving as a Union Army Headquarters in 1865, the mansion survived the burning of Columbia. John Preston was forced to sell the mansion in 1873.

After a short stint as the governor's mansion, the house became the College for Women and later Chicora College. These institutions occupied the property for forty years. After their departure in 1930, the house gradually fell into disrepair.

Restored in 1969, the mansion opened in 1970 as an historic house museum.

The mansion's collection represents fifty years of occupancy. The rooms reflect an evolving interpretation from the Federal period to the early postbellum years. Many of the objects in the mansion belonged to the Hamptons and Prestons, objects that they acquired both domestically and abroad.

Suggested Reading

• A Comprehensive History of the Hampton-Preston Mansion in Columbia, South Carolina, John M. Sherrer III, Masters Thesis, University of South Carolina, 1998. Available at Historic Columbia.
• A Divided Heart, Letters of Sally Baxter Hampton, 1853-1862, ed. Ann Fripp Hampton, Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company, 1980.
• Tales of Columbia, Nell Graydon, Columbia, SC: The R.L. Bryan Company, 1964.


• The Venturers: The Hampton, Harrison, Earle Families of Virginia, South Carolina, and Texas, Virginia Meynard, Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1981.