Darlington County · Marker 16-48
Wilds-Edwards House
Edwards Ave., just S of Pearl St., Darlington
Front inscription
This Italianate house, designed by J.L. Clickner, was built 1856-57 for planter Samuel H. Wilds (1819-1867). According to tradition Clickner returned in early 1865 as a Union soldier and persuaded his superiors not to burn the house during a raid in the area. In 1870 attorney B.W. Edwards (1824-1890), later a state senator, acquired the house; it remained in the family until 1999.
Samuel Hugh Wilds
Samuel H. Wilds was a member of the Darlington Agricultural Society, a colonel in the antebellum militia, and a state representative 1856-57 and again in 1864. He organized the "Wilds Rifles" (later Co. B, 21st S.C. Infantry) at the outbreak of the Civil War as its captain and rose to major by war's end. This house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.