Center for the State of the Parks: Park Assessments
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
Published December 2008
Charles Pinckney (1757-1824) was an 18th-century politician and Southern plantation owner who first gained recognition for rejecting the Articles of Confederation, precursor to the U.S. Constitution, in 1783. At that time, Pinckney was a member of the South Carolina legislature. South Carolina chose him as a representative to the Continental Congress from 1784 to 1787, but he is best known as a framer of the U.S. Constitution.
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, preserves the site of Pinckney’s former home at Snee Farm, interprets his life and the lives of all the farm’s past inhabitants (including slaves), and interprets the early history of the United States.
According to an assessment by NPCA’s Center for State of the Parks, cultural resources at the park are in “good” condition overall, with a score of 82 out of 100. Charles Pinckney National Historic Site is the first park assessed by the Center for State of the Parks to score an “excellent” for archaeological resource conditions, based on a full archaeology assessment. The park is in the process of developing a cultural resources division that will include several key staff positions, and the park recently installed fire and security systems in its curatorial facility to better protect museum collections. The park is also active in preserving the Gullah/Geechee culture that first developed among enslaved peoples along the southeast coast of the United States.
Challenges at the park include the need for an ethnographic overview and assessment to better understand Gullah/Geechee culture and the need for a historic structure report for the main house at Snee Farm.
