Point Plantation / Richmond Plantation

Point Plantation, also, Richmond Plantation. . , Point Plantation , In 1715, John Vanderhorst purchased 540 acres known as the Point for ₤360. So began a long line of ownership by this well-known Colonial family. By 1740, John’s son Joseph and 29 slaves lived at the Point and operated a successful livestock and timber business. The land remained in the Vanderhorst family until John’s granddaughter Mary married Joshua Toomer in the 1770s. The couple lived in the house at the Point. Joshua Toomer was an unwavering Patriot during the American Revolution. On one occasion, cavalrymen under British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton came to the Point in search of Joshua. When they could not find him, the British soldiers carried off cattle, horses, and provisions. In 1997, archaeologists excavated the ruins of the Point, located at the end of North James Gregarie Road, and recovered hundreds of artifacts associated with the Toomer family.

Richmond Plantation , Richmond Plantation on Toomer Creek was owned by William Vanderhorst. After the death of his first wife Mary, Joshua Toomer married William’s daughter Sabina in 1784. Together, they acquired Richmond Plantation which they combined with the Point. In 1796, the property passed to their son Anthony V. Toomer, a wealthy physician and planter. A. V. Toomer owned other Christ Church Parish plantations and homes in Charleston and Rhode Island. Richmond and the Point were working plantations rather than family manors. The plantations produced bricks, oak firewood, rice, and livestock. Richmond and the Point remained in the Toomer family until 1856. In 1997, archaeologists studied the ruins of Richmond Plantation that were located in this park. Artifacts and architectural features provided insight into life at this nineteenth century plantation.