Build A Bridge. Bring Land Over Water. Bring Worlds Together.

Everyday hundreds of commuters cross it and a handful of boaters pass under it without giving a thought to the significant role it played in the growth and development of the Ashley Barony and Dorchester/Summerville areas. From Charles Towne, it was the first crossing point downstream over the Ashley River. During the American Revolution and American Civil War, controlling it was strategic. In recognition of its importance, it was honored with a historic marker in 2014, and in 2017, residents, town officials and members of the Summerville Preservation Society formally commemorated it with a celebration. Bacon's Bridge is the place.

John Stevens was the first owner of the crossing site. He had acquired two grants of land near the Dorchester settlement called Boo-shoo and Rose's Land. The grant was laid off in two divisions and then one of the divisions was divided into two ranges. The first range consisted of 26 lots of 50 acres each parceled out along the Ashley River. His bridge was built between 1696 and 1700. He named it Stevens's Bridge. Then, Michael Bacon received a lot in the first range and purchased Lots 6 and 7 in the same range from John Stevens. On one of these lots was situated the bridge and he renamed it Bacon's Bridge. It became a public bridge in 1722. The area around the bridge developed alongside the Town of Dorchester.

The Ashley River was navigable by small boats as high as Bacon's Bridge, approximately 30 miles from Charleston. Slann's Bridge was located three miles upstream, after which the Ashley becomes a stream and then the Cypress Swamp. During the American Revolution, Patriot and British/Loyalist commanders in the lowcountry considered Bacon's Bridge to be strategic. In February of 1780, General William Moultrie built an earthwork nearby to defend the bridge and the approaches to Charleston. The exact location of this earthwork fort is not known. Today, it is known as Moultrie’s "lost fort" and is one of the most significant regional sites from the period still to be found.

In the same year, according to the story, Francis Marion and the Second South Carolina Regiment camped under a live oak tree at Bacon's Bridge. Located on the Summerville side of the bridge, it became known as the "Marion Oak." Standing in the same location today, you can view an old oak tree on top of the bluff where a dam and a pump house was located at one time. Whether it is the same oak tree or not, is highly unlikely. The age of the tree would have to be evaluated. There is another famous "Marion Oak" located on what was the Hayes Plantation, today known as Ingleside.

About the dam and pump house, Elliot Mellenchamp Jr of Summerville explains, "The dam had two purposes. The dam converted the Ashley River into a reservoir. Fresh water flowed from the Edisto River at Givhans through the tunnel into the Ashley. The dam also separated the fresh water from the brackish water...The pump house sent the water into Summerville and Goose Creek." The old aquaduct tower remains at this location and is an historical marker on the Ashley River Blue Trail.

old aquaduct

The British gained control of the bridge. In 1782, General Nathaniel Greene's forces took Bacon's Bridge from the British that still occupied Charleston. Greene's Southern Army, including Francis Marion's militia, camped at Bacon's Bridge March of 1782. Also, Bacon's Bridge was the launching site of Americans who captured the British gunboat Alligator on the Ashley River on March 19, 1782.

It was in that same year, Colonel Francis Marion wrote these words to Peter Horry in a letter on May 3rd, “I am posted here, two miles in front of the Continental Army, within three-quarters of a mile of Bacon's Bridge. The General, according to custom, keeps me between him and the enemy." You can read those words on a trail marker in Rosebrock Park at 507 Beech Hill Rd in Summerville--a Dorchester County Park and natural setting for riverside hikes through forest and wetlands along the Ashley River with a picnic shelter. The park is well worth a visit.

Greene's papers indicate that the bridge was used as a rest and staging area for American troops. They would hold that position until July. Control of Bacon's Bridge allowed the Americans to "more effectively restrict British movements into the countryside and impede the flow of provisions and goods into Charleston."

In 1850, Reverend Robert I. Limehouse built a house on the redoubt and named his plantation "The Hill." Rev. Robert I. Limehouse was a  magistrate and a Methodist minister who is believed to have built the Old Town Hall on West Carolina Avenue. Limehouse served as mayor in 1860-1861 and again in 1867-1868.

During the Civil War, Bacon's Bridge continued to serve as an important transportation route and mustering point for soldiers. Confederate General Johnson Hagood gave orders to his forces on October 5, 1863 during the battle of Fort Wagner, "If the Union effect a crossing east of Rantowles road, running rapidly take position behind the Ashley crossing at Bacon's and Slann's Bridges, but keeping a strong advanced guard on the west side."

Before retreating from the Charleston area, Confederate troops destroyed the bridge. A Federal regiment of black combat veterans rebuilt the bridge. On May 7, 1865, the Union Provisional Brigade moved from Charleston and camped in the vicinity of Bacon's Bridge before moving into Summerville the next day.

Bacon's Bridge

Since, it has gone through several improvements. The most recent was in 2014 when the road and bridge were widened to accommodate the growing commuter traffic. The history marker was erected after the improvement was completed, but many residents are unaware of it because the bridge is a low pedestrian traffic attraction. The Howard Bridgman River Access is situated at the base of the bridge on the Dorchester side of the river. The Boat Landing is owned and operated by the Town of Summerville Parks and Recreation. Dorchester Parks future Ashley River Park entrance is also located there.

Next time you cross over South Carolina's Black Pearl on your way to or from Summerville via Bacon's Bridge, remember its strategic significance in South Carolina history and in the growth of the Charleston Lowcountry. Just another reason the Flowertown in the Pines is at the heart of it all.

History note: The old Georgian style former Prettyman House on W 2nd South Street" is decorated with a fireplace mantle and a window salvaged from the old Francis Marion Plantation.