Historic Brattonsville — Attraction in Rock Hill

Located near McConnells, SC, Historic Brattonsville preserves the buildings, setting and history of an antebellum plantation. Buildings are a combination of those original to the site, some have been reconstructed, and some have been relocated from nearby counties. Historical interpreters are often dressed in period costume and perform tasks required to keep a farm going. The interpreters are appropriately honest about the history of the plantation including the ugly history of slavery. Historic Brattonsville hosts an annual interpretation of the Battle of Hucks Defeat among others as well as revolving monthly programs. The setting is beautiful and there is a picnic area. Be sure to bring a lunch or pick up something at a nearby (10+ minutes away) restaurant like Sweet Caroline's to eat onsite. Historic Brattonsville is a well preserved reminder of history that ought not to be forgotten and should be visited by those open minded enough to learn about all aspects of the history of the plantation. The time setting is slightly different for different parts of the "museum" (it's so much more) with presentations ranging from about 1820 to 1855 representing different phases of the life of the Brattons....

Brattonsville, along with the Children's Museum (downtown Rock Hill), and the Museum of York County make up the Cultural and Heritage Museums.

Brattonsville claims nearly 800 acres of "living museum", but you'll find most of that acreage is the Walt Schrader Walking Trails. The museum "proper" consists of only a few acres - what you can likely see from Maps street view.

One side of the highway has the main house, built in the 1800's and quite impressive. The active farm is also on this side. The other side has several additional buildings -- things like schoolhouse, garden, blacksmith, etc.

The volunteer actors are wonderful and a wealth of information. They do a terrific job.

During non-event days, do not expect a ton of "stuff" to do. There are plenty of signs to read, and certainly lots of old buildings, but there is generally little interactive activity.

If you are a CHM member, then swinging by for an hour or two is just fine. We come out some times for just an hour to see the animals. Sometimes we come out just to hike the trails.

However, if you are not a member, I would wait for one of their many events, otherwise you may not...

We our visiting from Phoenix with family from England and we all enjoyed our day trip to Brattonsville so much. Really great family outing. The homes are so amazing, the history is wonderful and also includes history from The Patriot movie, the grounds are absolutely beautiful and well tended additionally. The actors all did such a fantastic job too and were full of information. We were really impressed. I've seen history reenactments before, but never any as good as what we saw are Brattonsville today. It really felt as if they had lived it. They were great at being living history. We had a wonderful picnic in the picnic area and the souvenir shop had really great prices on such cool pieces to my surprise. Can't wait to come back here during the fall. Make sure you go to the bathroom before venturing out and make sure to bring snacks, drinks, and a picnic. It can get hot during the day with lots of walking so make sure you stay hydrated, but the picnic area is in the shade which was...