The History of Tanglewood Plantation

Tanglewood Plantation, also known as the Ellison Durant Smith House and as Smith’s Grove Plantation, is a historic plantation home located in Lynchburg, South Carolina.  In 1747, King George II granted the almost 5,000-acre tract of land to Arthur Smith, who moved here from Smith Island, North Carolina.  The current two-story Greek Revival Plantation house was built about 1830 by Reverend William H. Smith and features a two-story pediment front portico supported by four square columns on freestanding brick piers.  The house was built with timber cut onsite and still boasts its original cypress wide-plank floor and clap-board exterior.  Outbuildings on the property include a pine clapboard kitchen building, a round-cut log constructed smokehouse (circa 1750), and a one-room schoolhouse. Tanglewood Plantation was the home of Ellison Durant “Cotton Ed” Smith, United States Senator from 1908 to 1944, who was influential in organizing the Farmer’s Protective Association and the Southern Cotton Association.  Senator Smith loved Tanglewood and brought many famous dignitaries to visit, including President Teddy Roosevelt.  Another influential descendant of the Smith family is Alexander Coke Smith, Bishop of the Methodist Conference from 1902 until 1906.  The house and grounds were accepted to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1977.  Subsequent owners oversaw historically sensitive renovations that have left the Plantation intact and strong as it approaches its bicentennial.