
The Haunted Boone Hall Plantation
Posted: 06.22.2024 | Updated: 01.30.2025
One of the oldest plantations in America, Boone Hall Plantation has been in existence since 1681 right outside of Charleston, South Carolina. Nudged between a river and a bay, it sits in Mt. Pleasant, a perfect place to sustain agriculture. But other things have been produced here. At one point, the plantation ran off the labor of 225 enslaved African people, producing building materials for construction companies.
These kilns were dangerous, and many people lost their lives in the mouths of their fiery furnaces. The result of this deadly living enviornment is one of the most haunted places in South Carolina.
It’s no wonder that since 1956, so many have seen the terrifying, pale figure of a little girl gleaming through the moonlight. Her face is always covered by her ragged hair and she shakes as if in some great panic. Up to ten others roam the halls of the plantation.
Charleston Terrors invites you to uncover the sordid tales of the Holy City on a Charleston ghost tour!
What Is The Dark History of Boone Hall?
Boone Hall Plantation’s haunted legacy has gained it a reputation amongst scholars of haunted history. The brutal mistreatment of enslaved people in the brick factories that once lined its exborant exterior have left behind a deep-gnash in the veil. Stories of a girl, desperately shaking in fear, appearing under the moonlight have been the stuff of nightmares in the French Quarter for decades.
The Boone Family Home

The Boone Hall Plantation was first mentioned in the history books in 1681 when wealthy landowner Theophilus Patey gifted 370 acres to his daughter Elizabeth and her new husband, Major John Boone.
The exact date of the original building’s construction remains unknown. What we do know is that John Boone arrived in the colony sometime around 1672 with one of the first slave-owning families. He was elected to the colonial Grand Council,but held no other political office due to a troublemaking nature.
Associating with pirates, he began smuggling slaves and stolen goods and, as such, was removed from the council twice. The home stayed in the Boone family until 1811, not before burning to the ground in 1784, when it was sold to Thomas A. Vardell for $12,000.
1,452 acres were transferred to the Vardell family. Then, it was handed over again, this time to two brothers, Henry and John Herlbeck who purchased it with the intent to capitalize on the land.
A brick factory was erected on the grounds with the forced labor of over 85 enslaved African people. At its height, the business used the power of over 225 people to help create 4 million bricks every year.
Thanks to their investment in human labor, they became the largest pecan producer in the United States by the end of the 19th century.
Thomas and Alexandra Stone bought the property in 1935, tearing down the original home and leaving us with the structure we see today.
Then a Georgian Prince named Dimitri Jorjadze bought the mansion in 1940 and used it to raise race horses. One of which, Princequillo, was declared the fastest distance runner in 1943. The McRae family purchased it in 1955 and have been operating tours out of it since 1956.
The Spirits of the Brickyard

While Boone Hall operates as a real-life jumpscare, in October, becoming a maze of terrors so scary it left one visitor in the hospital in 2014, the real frights come from outside the home. Especially in the brickyard where, for decades, hundreds of enslaved African people built millions of bricks.
Multiple spirits have been spotted around this old brickyard. Some have seen children running behind the old furnaces. While others have felt their touch upon them. A young boy and girl are also often seen appearing before curious visitors together night and day.
One poor soul seems to be lost in eternal torment of Boone Hall Plantation’s dark history. In the pale moonlight, many have seen a young woman on the brink of adulthood, stuck in a freeze frame of agony.
A classic example of a residual haunting, this girl repeats the same actions repeatedly. Standing in the grass near the road leading to the brickyard, she constantly jerks her hands back and forth as if reconciling some major trauma.
Wearing dark clothes her face is constantly covered in ragged hair. As such, no one has been able to identify her. Forever etched in time as just another lost and lonely slave, she she walks alone.
Inside the main house and adjacent buildings of the old plantation, guests fare no better. Spirits of forgotten enslaved souls haunt the numerous rooms of the public tour house.
Haunted hot spots include numerous slave cabins, but especially Cabin 11. One guest reported walking into the cabin and feeling an unknown and creeping presence. Abrutply distrubted, they quickly walked out of the room. But as they left, the TV turned itself off. As they re-entered the room, it turned off again. An etheral dance of strageness had purused.
Spirits of Boone Hall Plantation
Not far from Charleston, Boone Hall remains, preserving its agricultural integrity while acknowledging and tempering its sordid past. The chains of slavery remain etched into the plantation walls and the hands that created them leave vast imprints across the estate.
All the while their spirits give visitors a gruesome reminder of America’s dark history. Perhaps scars such as the ones at Boone Hall Pantation can act as a building block for further understanding and peace.
Haunted Charleston
Boone Hall Plantation was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 2021, it joined the list of African American Historic Places in South Carolina. South Carolina’s most haunted places often teach us that there is still more to learn.
So, are you ready to learn more about the horrors of Charleston’s past? Book a Charleston ghost tour or read our blog to learn about them from the comfort of your home. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more spooky content anytime and anywhere!
Sources:
- https://south-carolina-plantations.com/primary-documents/boone-vardell-deed.html
- https://aftonvilla.com/boone-hall-plantation-a-historic-cotton-plantation
- https://aaregistry.org/story/the-boone-hall-plantation-is-built
- https://www.live5news.com/story/26709813/woman-injured-in-haunted-house-at-boone-hall-plantation
- https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2014/04/boone-hall-sunset-ghost.html
- http://www.hauntedhovel.com/boonehallplantation.html
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