Berkeley County · Marker 08-64
White House Plantation
at the Naval Weapons Station Charleston, Goose Creek
Front inscription
The first plantation here was established in 1731 by Alexander Vanderdussen (d. 1759), British army officer and member of the Royal Assembly. William Johnson (d. 1818), later a planter and state representative, bought it in 1769. Johnson demolished Vanderdussen’s ruined house and built a new one, which he named “White House,” on the old foundation. He grew rice and indigo here for many years.
Reverse inscription
Johnson, an ardent Patriot, served in the Provincial Congress and the S.C. House of Representatives during the Revolution. He was an artilleryman during the Siege of Charleston in 1780, was held prisoner in exile for more than a year, then was reelected to the S.C. House several times after the war. White House eventually fell into ruins, and in 1941 the U.S. Navy acquired this property for its Naval Weapons Station.