Pickens-Salley House

Front: This plantation house, first known as “Edgewood,” is an excellent example of Federal-era architecture. Originally near Edgefield, it was built in 1828 for Francis W. Pickens (1807-1869), state representative and senator, congressman, U.S. Minister to Russia, and governor 1860-62 during the secession crisis and the first two years of the Civil War. Lucy Holcombe Pickens was an ardent Confederate and novelist. Reverse: ) In 1929 Eulalie Chafee Salley (1883-1975), pioneer woman suffragist, real estate broker, and developer, saved the house. Salley, architect Willis Irvin (1891-1950), and contractor Byron E. Hair supervised its dismantling, relocation to the Kalmia Hill area of Aiken, and restoration. It was moved here in 1989 when developer Ronny Bolton donated it to the University of South Carolina Aiken.