Joseph H. Rainey House
Historic house in South Carolina. Added to the National Register in 1984, and a National Historic Landmark.
What it is
The Joseph H. Rainey House, also known as the Rainey-Camlin House, is a historic house at 909 Prince Street in Georgetown, South Carolina. Built in the 1760s, after the Civil War it was the home of Joseph H. Rainey, the first black United States Congressman (R-SC). Born into slavery and freed as a child by his parents, he served several terms, serving from 1870 into 1878. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1984.
Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The record
| Register name | Rainey, Joseph H., House |
| Property type | Building |
| Address | 909 Prince St., Georgetown, SC |
| County | Georgetown County |
| Listed | Apr 20, 1984 |
| Listed for | Black heritage, Politics and government |
| Level of significance | National |
| Also known as | Rainey-Camlin House |
| Reference number | 84003877 |
| Type of place | house |
| Designations | National Historic Landmark |
| Contributing resources | 1 building |
The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗
Visiting
| Address | 909 Prince St., Georgetown, SC |
| Coordinates | 33.3690° N, 79.2845° W · Directions ↗ |
| Also in Georgetown | 27 listed places in Georgetown → |
| Nearest national park unit | Charles Pinckney National Historic Site · 48 miles · on Park Atlas |
| Federal campgrounds nearby | Buck Hall Recreation Area 28 miles |
Explore
Map
Nearby in Georgetown County
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Public land around it
| Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests ↗National Forest, U.S. Forest Service | Inside the boundary1,381,168 acres |
Wilderness Atlas publishes a centroid and an acreage for each unit, not a boundary line. Distance here is measured to a circle of the same area drawn around that centroid, so treat it as roughly right rather than surveyed.
Local history books for Georgetown
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
The life & times of Georgetown Sea Captain Abram Jones Slocum, 1861-1914Robert McAlister, 2012Find at Bookshop.org
Guidebooks to historic places in South Carolina
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.
Reference
Questions people ask
When was Joseph H. Rainey House listed on the National Register?
Apr 20, 1984. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.
Source: National Park Service
Where is Joseph H. Rainey House?
909 Prince St., Georgetown, Georgetown County, South Carolina. The nearest national park unit is Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, 48 miles away.
Where is the nomination form for Joseph H. Rainey House?
The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.
Source: National Archives
Are there campgrounds near Joseph H. Rainey House?
One federal campground is within reach, Buck Hall Recreation Area, 28 miles away.
Source: Campsite Atlas
Is there cell service at Joseph H. Rainey House?
FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 5G, 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 Joseph H. Rainey House right now?
1 active incident within 50 miles as of 2026-10-17, nearest C-74 Fm Rx, 35 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 84003877. 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.