National Historic Landmark · plantation · Camden, South Carolina

Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House)

Historic house in South Carolina. Added to the National Register in 1980, and a National Historic Landmark.

National Historic Landmark Listed 1980 Federal architecture

Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 2 in the Commons category

2fires
active

Harry Hampton East Csp Rx (prescribed burn) · 29 miles away · 212 acres

1 more within 50 miles

Map ↓

What it is

Mulberry Plantation, also known as the James and Mary Boykin Chesnut House, is a historic plantation at 559 Sumter Highway south of Camden, South Carolina. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 2000, it is significant as the home of American Civil War chronicler Mary Boykin Chesnut, who produced some of the most important written accounts of the war from a Confederate perspective. The main house, built about 1820, is a fine example of Federal period architecture.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

Property type	Building
Address	559 Sumter Highway, Camden vicinity, SC
County	Kershaw County
Listed	Nov 25, 1980
Listed for	Military, Literature, Politics and government, Architecture
Level of significance	National
Reference number	80003673
Type of place	plantation
Style	Federal architecture
Designations	National Historic Landmark
Contributing resources	4 buildings

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Address	559 Sumter Highway, Camden, SC
Coordinates	34.2067° N, 80.5917° W · Directions ↗
Nearest national park unit	Congaree National Park · 30 miles · on Park Atlas
Federal campgrounds nearby	Bluff Hike In Camping 29 miles · Longleaf Campground 29 miles · Congaree Picnic Shelter 29 miles

Listing on the Register does not open the door. Unless a museum or park runs it, treat this as private property and see it from the sidewalk.

At a glance

State: South Carolina
County: Kershaw County
Listed: 1980
Type: Building
Landmark: Yes

Cell signal

Verizon: 4G LTE
AT&T: 4G LTE
T-Mobile: 5G

Outdoor coverage as modeled by carriers in FCC filings as of 2025-12-31. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.

Official links

Sister site

Park Atlas

Every unit of the National Park System, with its fees, hours, alerts and campgrounds.

Open Park Atlas →

This record is built from National Park Service sources, re-read every Saturday, and Wikidata, re-read on the first Saturday of each month. Register Atlas is independent and is not affiliated with any agency, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. How the data is built →

Explore

Map

Nearby in Kershaw County

All listings in Kershaw County →

Historic district · 3.2 km

Historic Camden Revolutionary War Restoration

Historic districtListed 1969

Building · 3.9 km

Robert Mills Courthouse

BuildingListed 1971

Landmark · 4.6 km

Bethesda Presbyterian Church

National Historic LandmarkListed 1985

Building · 5.5 km

Seaboard Air Line Railway Depot

BuildingListed 2000

Guidebooks to historic places in South Carolina

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Classic Carolina road trips from Columbia
Thomas M. Poland, 2014
Find at Bookshop.org
Columbia Civil War landmarks
Tom (Historian) Elmore, 2011
Find at Bookshop.org
Touring the Carolinas' Civil War sites
Clint Johnson, 2011
Find at Bookshop.org
A tour of historic Sullivan's Island
Cindy Lee, 2010
Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

When was Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House) listed on the National Register?

Nov 25, 1980. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.

Source: National Park Service

Where is Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House)?

559 Sumter Highway, Camden vicinity, Kershaw County, South Carolina. The nearest national park unit is Congaree National Park, 30 miles away.

Source: Congaree National Park

What does the Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House) listing include?

The listing counts 4 contributing resources. Those are 4 buildings. A contributing resource is a part of the listed property that carries its historic significance.

Source: National Park Service

Where is the nomination form for Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House)?

The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.

Source: National Archives

Are there campgrounds near Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House)?

Three federal campgrounds are within reach. The closest is Bluff Hike In Camping, 29 miles away. Longleaf Campground is 29 miles away, and Congaree Picnic Shelter is 29 miles away.

Source: Campsite Atlas

Is there cell service at Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House)?

FCC coverage maps show Verizon 4G LTE, AT&T 4G LTE, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

Is there a wildfire near Mulberry Plantation (Chesnut House) right now?

2 active incidents within 50 miles as of 2026-10-17, nearest Harry Hampton East Csp Rx, 29 miles away.

Source: Map

Sources

Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 80003673. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.