Preserving Rice Fields
Rice and the enslaved African and African American people who constructed and tended the fields created the wealth that built Charleston from 1690 until 1865. The legacy of that labor is reflected in the elegant architecture of Charleston and its old plantations, on our dinner tables, and through our arts and crafts, music, and theatre. However, the most remarkable monuments to the incredible labor required to build this rice empire are the remnants of canals, ditches, and embankments still present in the secluded swamps and marshes of the Lowcountry. They are quiet memorials to generations of enslaved people who labored unceasingly and unpaid for nearly 200 years. Aerial photographs reveal how indelible these vast man-made networks for controlling water continue to be in the modern landscape. Archaeological and historical research shows us that many of these structures still exist and should be protected and preserved as an important part of the history of our nation.
A 1949 aerial photograph of Dean hall Plantation. Old rice fields are visible in the top left and right.