The Oaks Plantation Golf & Country Club—once home to Declaration of Independence signer Arthur Middleton’s 18th-century rice plantation—has closed, and housing is being considered on the property.
Pat Bell, Clubhouse Manager at the historic Oaks Plantation Golf & Country Club in Goose Creek, S.C., recently got word from the owners of the property that she would have to find a new job, the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier reported. The 39-acre plantation home, grounds and nine-hole golf course is being closed, The Post and Courier reported, as the owners actively search for a new buyer.
“Words can’t describe it,” Bell said. “These people have become my family for the past six years.”
In addition to the nostalgic value of the Oaks to club members, it has historic significance in the Goose Creek area, The Post and Courier reported. The Oaks property was the site of Declaration of Independence signer Arthur Middleton’s 18th-century rice plantation, which was established by a land grant in 1678.
Mims Amusement Operating Co. has owned the historic property since 1971, according to Berkeley County property records, The Post and Courier reported.
While residents and employees speculate that the historic home could be leveled and housing could be built instead, Mims Office Manager Debbie Walker told The Post and Courier that the company doesn’t plan to tear the plantation home down, and that the future of the property would be up to the next owner. But until then, it will be closed to the public.
“Here in the next week, we will have it all locked down,” Walker said. “We’ll have a gate installed and it will be lock and key.”
Walker said the sale of the Oaks Plantation & Golf Club is imminent, The Post and Courier reported.
“It will be soon,” Walker said. “They have several properties and [The Oaks Plantation] is one of the ones that will be sold.”
Changes to the Oaks are already happening, The Post and Courier reported. The Oaks Disc Golf Club said in a Facebook message that “the course has been removed from the property.” Many of the golf carts, disc golf nets and other sporting equipment have already been sold off, said Susan Lee, the golf course manager.
The golf course had become a weekday favorite for many seniors in the neighborhood, Lee told The Post and Courier. She joined the club in 1976 and has been the manager for 14 years.
“I’ll miss the people the most,” Lee said. “I love the golfers. The people have just been wonderful.”
The closure of the Oaks Golf Club won’t be the area’s first, The Post and Courier reported. The nearby Kings Grant Golf Course closed 10 years ago. Now plans for a marsh park, including a walking trail and paddle craft launch that will be managed by the city of North Charleston, is in the works for that property.
Oaks Plantation has seen many owners and several disasters in its history, The Post and Courier reported. It started when planter Edward Middleton moved to South Carolina from Barbados, according to a historical marker outside the property.
It was then handed down to Arthur Middleton, who played a role in the American Revolution by serving in the Continental Congress, The Post and Courier reported. A home on the property burned to the ground in 1804, and the existing yellow-colored Oaks Plantation house was built in 1892 for Maine businessman Edwin Parsons.
Owner Hurst Waterman Conant in the late 1940s planned to raise 300 head of cattle on the grounds, The Post and Courier reported. In 1944, Sun Oil Co. even had plans to drill for oil on the property. In 1956, The Oaks Co. Inc. paid $125,000 for the plantation house and 140 acres of land, with plans to preserve the home.
In 1964, it became the Oaks Plantation Golf & Country Club, according to The Post and Courier report. The 17,462-sq.-ft. house was purchased by Howard Mims, the owner of a coin-operated amusement business who died in 2013. His company and heirs now handle the estate.
The main plantation home had been used for weddings, venues and other events until 2008, The Post and Courier reported. Disaster struck again that February, when an estimated 70 firefighters were on scene as a second fire scorched the property. Authorities said the fire started in the kitchen, located in an area that opened onto a swimming pool.
The fire torched a 1960s addition and damaged the roof and part of the second floor, The Post and Courier reported. Presently, the plantation home is in disrepair, and the rear has been boarded up since the fire.
Fighting over the Oaks Plantation property isn’t anything new, former Goose Creek Mayor Mike Heitzler told The Post and Courier. The grounds are an “unannexed” property in Berkeley County. In 2004, there was an unsuccessful attempt by the owners to annex the property in North Charleston to build homes at The Oaks. Heitzler said there had always been chatter about the city of Goose Creek acquiring the land, but it never panned out.
There isn’t much the city of Goose Creek can do now, because the property is out of its jurisdiction, Heitzler told The Post and Courier. For him, it’s the end of an era for the plantation to lock its gates.
“Thinking of what has the most overt historical significance for the people of Goose Creek, it is the Oaks plantation house,” Heitzler said. “There is some sadness wrapped around all that news.”
While many of the workers and residents of the Oaks have speculated that apartments or condos will go on the property, Mims Amusement won’t know until a buyer is secured, The Post and Courier reported. Berkeley County is rapidly growing. With more than 8,000 people moving to the area between mid-2015 and mid-2016, and more expected in the coming years, more housing isn’t out of the question.
The Oaks property is zoned to accommodate single-family residential homes, according to county zoning documents, but a variance could allow apartments or other types of housing, The Post and Courier reported. Currently, the density of the property allows for an estimated 120 units on the grounds, County Planning & Zoning Manager Thomas Moore said.
While the future of the property is uncertain, members of the Berkeley County Historical Society said they’re ready for the worst-case scenario, The Post and Courier reported.
“People don’t want it to be flattened and turned into condos or houses,” board member Betty Shealy said. “We’ve seen that almost happen once before.”
Residents viewed The Oaks as a staple in the community.
“Everybody’s livid,” Barbara Scott, a 45-year resident of the neighborhood, said. “Everything good happened there—proms, weddings, you name it.”
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