We just spent a morning at the Lexington County Museum and Historical Restoration - what a nice surprise to find right in our own backyard (figuratively speaking, that is).   Located in the town of Lexington, the museum was founded in 1970.  The museum complex encompasses seven acres and features 36 historic structures that illustrate the early history of the county.

The Lawrence Corley Log House is the oldest house in the town of Lexington - it was built in 1772 in what was then called Saxe-Gotha Township.  Lawrence Corley's 1700-acre plantation covered most of the land that the Town of Lexington now occupies.  This type of log house was the typical dwelling for the settlers who came to this area in the Colonial period.  The Corleys raised 16 kids in this house - good thing there was a loft for sleeping!

Next oldest is the Heinrich Senn House, now serving as the Museum's loom room.  It was built in 1774 and is typical of river houses built by early settlers.  It seems likely that Heinrich Senn may be one of Margaret's ancestors -- research underway to prove or disprove. 

This little building is the original Lexington County Post Office.  It was built about 1790 as a lawyer's office at Granby on the Congaree River.  It was rolled to the new county seat (called Lexington Courthouse) in 1820 and later was used as a medical office for Dr. Thomas Simmons.  His widow and their daughter kept the Post Office here from about 1866 until 1894.

The Leaphart-Harman House, built about 1800, was once the headquarters of a thriving plantation and mill.  It is an outstanding example of Federal style architecture popular just after the American Revolution.  It was built by the family of George Leaphart, who operate lumber and grist mills on Twelve Mile Creek and a plantation of some 2,000 acres with 30 slaves.  Occupied and damaged by Union soldiers during the Civil War, it was sold to Dr. James Harman, whose family occupied the home until donating it to the museum in 2003.  Over 200 years later, the Chippendale porch railings and other unique features are largely intact and attest to the attention to detail, style and workmanship of the builder.

The Daniel Koon house was built in about 1810 on Bear Creek, near Chapin.  Daniel Koon, with a succession of three wives, fathered 14 children.  Self-taught, he spoke four languages and was well-known for his talent in a folk practice of faith-healing brought to the Dutch Fork area by Germans and widely practiced here until modern times.

The Oak Grove Schoolhouse was built around 1815 and is typical of the schools common in South Carolina before the Civil War.  It was a private community school somewhat subsidized with state funds from the Free School Act of 1812.  These buildings were often called field schools because they usually were constructed in worn-out fields no longer used for crops.  This school housed ten to twenty-five students, ranging from age 7 to 14. 

The Hazelius House was built by the Gross family sometime before 1820.  It was purchased in 1834 by the Lutheran Seminary and enlarged to serve as the home of the seminary's headmaster, Dr. Ernest Hazelius.  In 1891, Charlie Tilman, a traveling evangelist, wrote the spiritual “Give Me That Old Time Religion,” while a guest here.  The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The John Fox House was built on this site in 1832 and was the first building in Lexington County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  This was the home of John Fox, a prominent local politician who served as justice of the peace, sheriff, state representative, state senator, and various other government offices.  At one time, over 50 people lived on the Fox House grounds, then encompassing 400 acres.  Fox's descendants lived in the house for more than a century - until it was restored and became the centerpiece of the museum.

The kitchen was a stand-alone building behind the house.  It served around 30 people, including the family and their household slaves.  The kitchen was detached from the main house because of heat, noise, and danger of fire.

The backyard of the Fox House was a work area, containing many of the structures associated with running a large household - a smoke house, a potato house, an outdoor oven, beehives, a chicken coop, and a privy.   

Nearby is a pigeon house built in 1857 to hold up to 100 pairs of breeding birds.  Pigeon houses were found on most farms and plantations in this area.  The owners raised domestic pigeons for food - they were much easier to care for than chickens and could be eaten much sooner - squabs, young birds about one month old, were an important source of food for early South Carolinians.  This structure is a rare example of octagonal ornamental architecture, which was popular in the1850s.  

Finally, the newest building at the museum is the Horace E. Harmon, Jr., Lexington County Exhibit Hall.  It's just a nondescript cinderblock building, but it's loaded with exhibits with home furnishings, wagons, carriages, quilts, and many other locally-made artifacts.  Best of all, it's named after our friend Horace Harmon, the Museum's first Director and its long-time guiding force.

The Museum serves as a valuable educational tool by promoting and interpreting Lexington County's history - and it's a great place to visit.   Check it out!