South Carolina’s oldest state document is back in the state after a painstaking conservation.
The document – an almost 350-year-old deed for a lot at the original location of Charleston – dates to 1671, the year after the English settled at what is now the Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site in Charleston.
The document is one of 26 sheets included in the earliest records of the South Carolina Colony and is considered the first state government document. In those days, recording deeds was done by the colonial government.
The documents were recently conserved at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Massachusetts. The process, which cost about $15,000, took several months and the documents were returned in December.
The document – an almost 350-year-old deed for a lot at the original location of Charleston – dates to 1671, the year after the English settled at what is now the Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site in Charleston.
The document is one of 26 sheets included in the earliest records of the South Carolina Colony and is considered the first state government document. In those days, recording deeds was done by the colonial government.
The documents were recently conserved at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Massachusetts. The process, which cost about $15,000, took several months and the documents were returned in December.
