Grand Past for Area Land
The beautiful land surrounding Cottesmore and Camden area has an impressive history - one filled with high-society plantation owners, Southern aristocrats, war heroes and winter visits from wealthy equestrians. The land adjacent to Cottesmore is considered part of the original Mulberry Plantation land grant in the 1730s. The 5,000-acre Mulberry Plantation was one of the largest plantations in the state.
The national significance of Mulberry Plantation is associated with Mary Boykin Chestnut's published journals of southern society during the Civil War. Married to James Chesnut, Jr, a prominent Confederate government official and Mulberry heir, Mary recorded her experience with the most influential people of the Southern elite. Her diaries received historical acclaim due to Chestnut's personal views and observations about a wide range of topics including the war, slavery and life in the South.
The Chestnut family is an integral part of Camden History. A small Chestnut family cemetery remains just up the street from Cottesmore on Tombsfield Road. Today the Mulberry Plantation home still belongs to Chestnut descendents, the Williams family. To this day, the Williams family are avid supporters of Camden, its nature and horses.
For more information on the Mulberry Plantation, visitors are welcome to go to the Camden Museum and Archives. Or click here.
