Hewn-Timber Houses: History - Original Location of House

Original Location of Houses

Figure 6: Plat: Original location of cabins

African Americans built eight hewn-timber cabins when J. Eli Gregg moved to Mars Bluff in about 1836. The cabins were in a cotton field on a sandy road called “the street” which, if it were still there, would run through the heart of Francis Marion University campus--from behind Stokes Hall, past the library, and through the gym. The current location of the houses is indicated on this 2017 aerial photograph of campus, and the original cabin locations have been drawn in based on an 1870 farm survey. There is some anecdotal evidence that the cabins were actually located a bit further to the south. (Plat by R. A. Johnson, surveyor, for J. Eli Gregg, November 30, 1870. Overlay onto modern aerial photograph by J. W. Sallenger, 2019.)

Original location on campus map

1870 map of
farm before Francis Marion University