Living History Sites

An oyster-shell, “tabby,” fortress, originally constructed here during the French and Indian War, was restored, and occupied by both the British and Patriots.

Santee State Park offers biking and hiking trails and pontoon boat tours of the flooded cypress forest on Lake Marion, named after Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox”.

Old Santee Canal Park hosts the Berkeley County Museum and Fort Fair Lawn, where in 1780, the British attacked the Patriot army stationed at Monck’s Corner.

A former British headquarters, explore the reconstructed Kershaw/Cornwallis House, British redoubts, and programs about colonial life.

After an eight-day siege, this strategic outpost fell to the Americans, who used an ingenious structure called Maham’s Tower to fire down into the fort and trap the enemy.

This battleground was the site of three British camps, attacked by Patriot troops on August 6, 1780. It was a fight primarily between countrymen.

Known as an extremely important ferry crossing in the Colonial Period, Marion fortified this ferry and frequently utilized it to quickly move his troops to lay ambushes

This park features the Lands Ford crossing, used during the Revolutionary War by both British and American troops under Cornwallis and Sumter before and after pivotal battles.

An architectural treasure in its own right, the South Carolina Historical Society Museum is housed in a National Historic Landmark building and features interactive exhibits on the people, places, and movements that shaped the state and nation.

Now under the man-made Lake Marion, British Lieutenant Colonel John Watson and Patriot Brigadier General Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” skirmished in Wyboo Swamp near Santee Road.