In July of 2008 we attended the Prince Livingston Family Reunion in Wampee, Horry County, South Carolina (my husband's maternal family). During our down time we decided to take a drive through Little River where the plantation owner, Robert Livingston, had once lived.
We inquired at the Visitor Center, and learned that the Robert Livingston House had been preserved as an historical landmark. The brochure we received listed several different sites that interested us, but the Livingston House was our first destination.
We drove along Highway 17S and drove past the turn off for Lakeside Drive. At the next light we turned around and headed back down the highway until we came to the street. About two-thirds of the way down the road we saw a sign along the roadside: 19th Century Victorian Home for Sale. Was that the house? The number on the mail box was 4441. That's it!
We got out of the car and looked around only to find that the owner was at home, and he was in the process of completing restoration of the house. He gave us a guided tour...and we learned that Robert Livingston had been Little River's Postmaster.
My husband relished the idea of the descendants of slaves becoming the owners of their slave master's house...possibly turning it into a bed and breakfast...but it was a dream.
In the rear of the house was what first appeared to be a shed, but upon closer examination proved much more. The rough wood structure served many purposes over the years...a lodging...a jail...slave quarters...But the sign about Washington's horse was truly amazing!
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