Prospect Hill (Charleston County, South Carolina)

{{short description|Historic house in South Carolina, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Prospect Hill

| image = Prospect Hill (Charleston County, South Carolina).png

| caption = South (front) facade, October 1978

| location = 2695 Laurel Hill Road, Edisto Island, SC 29438

| coordinates = {{coord|32|34|54|N|80|23|04|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = South Carolina#USA

| built = c. 1792

| added = Nov. 28, 1986

| architect =

| architecture = Greek Revival

| refnum = 86003196{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

Prospect Hill is an historic plantation house on Edisto Island, South Carolina. The two-story Federal house is significant for its architecture and ties to the production of sea island cotton.{{Cite web

| last = | first = | title = Prospect Hill | work = South Carolina Inventory Form for Historic Districts and Individual Properties in a Multiple Property Submission | date = | url = http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/charleston/S10817710145/S10817710145.pdf | format = pdf | access-date = 8 December 2012}}{{cite web|title=Prospect Hill, Charleston County (off Laurel Hill Rd., Edisto Island)|url=http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/charleston/S10817710145/index.htm|access-date=Dec 3, 2012|work=National Register Properties in South Carolina|publisher=South Carolina Department of Archives and History}} Constructed about 1800 for Ephraim Baynard, it sits on a bluff overlooking the South Edisto River. In 1860, William Grimball Baynard owned Prospect Hill. Baynard was an elder in the Edisto Island Presbyterian Church, a Justice of the Peace, a Justice of the Quorum, and the owner of 220 slaves. When Baynard died in 1861, his son William G. Baynard acquired the house. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on 28 November 1986.

In 1999, Prospect Hill was bought by the Nature Conservancy of South Carolina for $5.75 million with plans to conserve the 1200 acres along the South Edisto River. The prior owner was a real estate development company which had intended to develop the property.{{cite news|title=Conservancy Buys Edisto Plantation|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9tMoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ws8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4080,3045465&dq=prospect-hill+edisto&hl=en|access-date=Dec 4, 2012|newspaper=Spartanburg Herald-Journal|date=May 7, 1999|page=A13}} The house was then resold to private homeowners who restored it.{{cite news|title=Prospect Hill restoration clings to historic accuracy|newspaper=Charleston Post & Courier|date=June 30, 2003|author=Robert Behre|page=B1}}