silent cities tour at brookgreen gardens
I’ve been eyeing this tour for 18+ months and finally made it happen! It’s not recommended for young kids so I had to wait until I could get some kid-free time to experience it. If you’re into history or just appreciate some good behind-the-scenes action then you’ll enjoy this tour.
WHEN: Daily, 12p and 2:30p from Jan 7–March 3.
COST: $13.50 for members and $15 for non-members.
SUMMARY: A 2 hour tour into the hidden parts of Brookgreen. It reveals some of the structures, cemeteries and history of the families who lived on the property.
good to know info
IT’S BUMPY AND MAY BE CHILLY | You’re riding on dirt roads most of the way and it gets shaky and bumpy. This is part of the reason why young kids aren’t allowed. This is a winter-time tour and you’ll be in the shade most of the time (wooded areas) so dress warmer than you think you need to!
THE TOUR VARIES BASED ON THE GUIDE YOU HAVE | There are a few guides that give this tour and they have some discretion on where they take you. We had one of the more seasoned guides and he talked the ENTIRE time offering history, personal stories, humor and more. I think there are normally 3 cemeteries on the tour but our guide took us off course to see the original home the Huntington’s had before they built Atalaya. We also got to see Sandy Island from across the Waccamaw River and an old chimney that holds a lot of history about how the property was used hundreds of years ago.
some of what you'll learn
OAKS PLANTATION | Part of the tour is to the Oaks Plantation which was home for the Alston family. You’ll see their family cemetery and info depicting their family tree to help this history make a little more sense. There are several styles of tombs in this cemetery and the stories of the individuals almost jump off the grave markers with the amount of detail included.
THE HISTORY OF SOME OF THE DECEASED | Theodosia Burr Alston is particularly interesting. She is not buried here because it’s believed that she was lost at sea. There is also the grave of Andrew Johnston and his five infant sons. Many of the individuals buried here were born in the early-mid 1700’s. The guide details some of the renovations that Anna Hyatt Huntington oversaw when they took over the property.
SPRINGFIELD PLANTATION | The tour moves into Springfield Plantation where it stops by a slave cemetery and the guide details some of the Gullah history and burial practices. These graves are equally meaningful but of a much different variety. Some have little more than a brick marker or bag of cement to mark as a headstone. Some have remnants and items that were dear to the deceased that are supposed to help their passage into the afterlife. Individuals are still being buried here if they have a family connection, one was as recent as 2021.
MORE COOL STUFF | This is where the tours may start to differ. There is another small cemetery that is usually on the route but we went off course to see a few other structures. One of them was the original house the Huntingtons occupied, some tabby structures and the rice mill of Laurel Hill Plantation. This is also where you can see directly across the Waccamaw River to Sandy Island where 30+ families still live cut day-to-day without much interaction from the mainland.
