Belfast Plantation

Front: This Federal plantation house was built between 1786 and 1815 for John Simpson (1751-1815), merchant and planter. Simpson came to S.C. from England in 1786 and named Belfast after his birthplace in Ireland. A post office here was called Belfast by 1804. Simpson was the first of four generations representing Laurens County in the S.C. House of Representatives from 1797 to 1886. Reverse: John Simpson’s grandson William Dunlap Simpson (1823-1890), born here, was a state representative and senator 1854-1863, and a Confederate officer and Congressman 1861-65. Simpson was lt. governor 1878-79, then governor 1879-1880, and was chief justice of the S.C. Supreme Court at his death. Belfast was acquired by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources in 2008.