Volume 4 Issue 4
November 2000
Archdale Hall History
Archdale Hall holds its place in South Carolina history as being
one of the longest family held original King's grants. Richard Baker, who emigrated
to the colonies by way of Barbados, was given a total of 1,117 acres by the king. The
Baker family owned the property from the time of the original grants in 1680 and 1682,
until Dr. Richard Baker's death in 1901. It was then acquired by a descendant of
Richard Baker, Emma Drayton Grimke. Mrs. Grimke subsequently sold sections of the
original plantation, until the final plot was sold in 1962. In the 1770's, the
Bakers fought for the colonies in the revolutionary war. Prior to his death in
1837, Captain Richard Baker was honored as the last surviving officer of a company
of men who defended the colonies at Fort Moultrie. The following is a brief
description of Archdale Hall, taken from the Emma Grimke-Drayton's "Chronicles
of Archdale Hall." "The approach to the Hall was from the old Dorchester Road,
through pine woods, ending in a double avenue of Live Oaks. This avenue stretched
from the front of the entrance gate to the lawn which was in front of the house.
To the left of the avenue, at one end of the lawn, was the family burial ground, in
sight of the windows of the Hall. The 'people' of Archdale had their own burial
ground not far off in a beautiful grove of Live Oaks." Mrs. Drayton-Grimke describes
the home as, "facing north with two stories and a large garret. There was an open
piazza at the back, flagged with red tiles; a flight of brick steps leading down to
an old world garden, with formal beds of plants and flowers, sent from England. A
bronze sun-dial, beautifully engraved, stood in the center of the broad garden walk,
which led down to a large fish pond, called 'Indigo Dam' full of a variety of fish.
Beyond this garden, and the fish pond, and in a line with the front avenue, was
another double avenue of Live Oaks leading down to the river, where, on a mound, it
is told, the family would take their tea in the warm evenings of spring and summer."
(next month: more detailed descriptions of Archdale Hall)
Archdale Online
Please visit the Archdale website at the address listed below.
It's full of useful information including copies of the restrictive covenants and
maps of Archdale streets. The web address is: www.geocities.com/archdale-civic.
School Supplies
Thanks to everyone who donated school supplies during this year's
annual drive. Your generosity is greatly appreciated by those children who received
the supplies.
Maintenance Fund By Jim Lantry, Treasurer
After much discussion, the board has decided not to raise dues for
the upcoming year. We were able to raise enough money to continue to pay for lawn
service, as well as some extras like flowers and pine straw. In place of raising the
dues, we would like to request voluntary donations from our residents beyond the $30
donation. An extra $5-10 donation will go a long way towards keeping the neighborhood
looking good. These funds will be needed to continue work on such projects as the
plantation, and for continued planting of flowers on a bi-annual basis. Remember,
it takes a donation rate of at least 50% just to pay for lawn service. Many of you
already donate in excess of $30, and for that we again offer our thanks! The annual
fund drive is over for 2000, as we will begin again in January 2001. I'd like to
thank the following streets who achieved a donation rate of 75% or more: Old Dominion
Blvd., Sawpit Gap Rd., Nightingale Manor, Botany Bay Ct., Anadale Ct., Wharf Landing
Ct., Weatherbark Rd., Excalibur Place. Over 60%: Castleberry Ct., Windsor Ct., Bakers
Landing Ln., Palmetto Bluff Dr., Sherbrooke Ln., Mansfield Blvd., Penshire Ct.,
Wakefield Ct., Knightsbridge Rd. Over 50%: Botany Bay Blvd., Timberline Trail, Christee
Ct., Curtisston Ct., Roxbury Dr., Wicker Ct., Gatewood St., Archdale Blvd., Old Saybrook
Rd.. Over 40%: Bindon circle, Ashburne Ct.. River Oak Ln., Scotts\yood Dr.. \Villo\y Oak
Cir., Lancelot Hall. If your street isn't listed, it means that less than 40% of your
neighbors contributed.
Archdale Medical Center
Earlier this month Trident Health Systems had the grand opening of the
new Archdale Medical Center. Archdale residents were given shirts with the Trident
logo, tours of the facility, and a variety of free screenings. The folks at Trident
have long been supporters of our community, with generous contributions to the maintenance
fund in the past. They have also offered to us the use of their water supply, allowing us
to regularly water the front entrance flowers without having to haul water there and
water the flowers by hand. The medical center currently offers services in the following
areas: family practice, gastroenterology, and women's health, and plans to offer other
services in the near future. We wish them success and encourage Archdale residents to
take advantage of the excellent facilities and convenience of this state of the art
facility.
Knightsbridge Property
The civic association is the owner of a small lot, unsuitable for
building on Knightsbridge Rd. Some time ago, Archdale resident Tammy Karmann offered
to purchase this property. The board has tentatively agreed to sell this lot pending
certain deed restrictions preventing any subsequent subdivision or building on the lot,
and after public discussion at the next general meeting. Proceeds from the sale could
be used to augment the general maintenance fund, or used to fund the state historical
marker at the plantation site.
Board News
The civic association said goodbye to board member Mark Mellinger this
month. Mark, a member of the US Air Force, was recent]y transferred to the Washington
DC area. Over the past 5 years. Mark has donated countless hours to various community
projects. most notably the plantation project and the semi-annual clean-ups. His
enthusiasm and can-do attitude will be missed. We hope to be able to drag Mark back
to South Carolina for the dedication of the plantation park upon it's completion. At
the last general meeting. two new members were added to the board. Eric Kohl and Tammy
Karmann. Eric is another stalwart when it comes to community projects. He is also a
prior civic association board member, who volunteers a tremendous amount of time to
this community. Tammy is a newcomer to the board but comes to us with lots of enthusiasm
and ideas. Stay tuned for bios on all our new members in the coming months. Also, we
still have openings for board members and for next year's presidency, so please consider
joining the board for the upcoming year.
Blood Drive
Thanks to everyone who donated blood at the recent Red Cross Blood drive.
The Red Cross collected over 20 units of blood, which will be used to help dozens of
individual patients at our area hospitals.
Volunteers
A big thanks to our core group of volunteers for the fall clean-up.
The usual folks showed up and planted quite a few flowers as well as spreading pine
straw, trimming a few low limbs along the median. and planting crepe myrtles and live
oaks in previously treeless areas. Our ultimate vision is of a "new" avenue of oaks
from one end of the boulevard to the other. The volunteer of the month award goes to
Theresa and Dean , Officer, who donated more than a few hours of their time to planting
the flowers at the Archdale Landing sign. Another note of thanks also goes out to the
volunteers who helped dispose of the debris at the plantation site. Work at the
plantation will continue throughout the winter months.
Dorchester Road Corridor
There are many changes in store for the Dorchester Road corridor
from the city line down to Ladson Road. and beyond. The Archdale Medical Center is
the latest new resident on Dorchester Road. but there are many more to follow. In
addition to the expansion at Bosch, a Walgreen's will soon be built adjacent to McDonalds
at the entrance of River Oaks. And I just I learned this week that the lot next to
Prudential (on Dorchester Road) has also been sold. and will soon be home to a new Sprint
switching station. Most of the property lining Dorchester Road to the North is within the
North Charleston city limits. as well as pockets of land along the Ashley River side" The
Dorchester Corridor Coalition. of which Jim Lantry: and Joe Wagner are Archdale
representatives. was formed approximately 9 months ago in order to closely monitor
development along Dorchester Road development along Dorchester Road. The coalition is
comprised of representatives from virtually every neighborhood bordering Dorchester road.
With several thousand homes, and possibly hundreds of new business planned along Dorchester
Road, the coalition has been working closely with North Charleston to ensure that
development is done responsibly and tastefully. We have been successful in limiting the
number of turnoffs from Dorchester Rd, ensuring that zoning allows for a substantial opaque
vegetative buffer, and controlling what type of businesses move into our area. Dorchester
County has also begun the process of zoning changes along their sections of the Dorchester
Road corridor, and it is for this reason that we've asked Charlie Miller to come to the
next meeting to outline what those changes will mean to us. Hope to see you there.
Mailbox
The mailbox has been moved, and can now be located on the Archdale
"21 MPH" sign along the boulevard, just past the turnoff to Archdale Landing. Please
feel free to use it for donations as well as regular correspondence, as we try to keep
it emptied nightly.