The Drayton family has owned Magnolia since the 1670s. Operations are overseen by a board of directors that includes the 10th and 11th generations of Drayton family descendants.
The Civil War had a devastating effect on the plantation. During the Red River Campaign of April 1864, retreating United States troops burned the main house to the ground. The main house on the property today was built as a summer home in Summerville, and moved to Magnolia by barge in 1873. A row of five slave cabins constructed in 1850 remains, and the plantation is home to the Drayton family tomb, a brick and marble vault constructed in 1700.
In the 1840s, the Rev. John Grimké Drayton planted the elaborate romantic gardens for his wife. She was from Philadelphia and not entirely thrilled about moving from the city to what was then the middle of nowhere. He directed the enslaved people at Magnolia in planting the gardens that continue to flourish almost 200 years later.
Following the Civil War, the Rev. Drayton believed the best way to preserve the gardens at Magnolia was to open the space to the public. Visitors have been admiring these gardens since the early 1870s. In the late 19th century, Magnolia Gardens was recognized in Baedeker’s Guide to the United States as one of the top places to see in the country. Only two other places received such notoriety: Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon.
Credit: Overview from museum website