Old Chiswell Place

Also known as Blue Plains, this property was constructed in several stages between the 1790s and 1830s. The house passed through several owners of some local renown, the first being George Frazier Macgruder, who purchased the property in 1778. He sold the property to Colonel Solomon Simpson in 1803. He died shortly thereafter and ownership passed to Colonel Thomas Fletchall in 1819. Fletchall willed the home to his daughter Sarah, who was married to William Chiswell, an attorney, planter, and surveyor. The Chiswells had ten children in the home. One of their sons, George, inherited the home with his parents’ passing and served as a Confederate army captain between 1862-1865. The home passed to two of their daughters with ownership of the house becoming hazy in the latter part of the 19th century.