Magnolia Plantation was founded in 1676, making it the oldest plantation in South Carolina and the oldest estate garden in the country. A manor house was constructed on the property by 1680 by the first owner, Thomas Drayton, Junior, who also organized a French garden around the structure. By 1760, Thomas Drayton III had accumulated more than 3,000 acres of land and 5 rice plantations. Magnolia served as the administrative center, so the inland rice fields were converted into ornamental lakes in the early 19th century. The original manor house burned in 1811 and a new house was constructed shortly thereafter, while the gardens were consistently modified and advanced throughout the 19th century. The main house on the site was constructed in Summerville and moved to Magnolia after the Civil War. In 1869 or 1870, a large portion of the plantation was sold to the Charleston Mining and Manufacturing Company. The remainder of the plantation continues to be held by direct descendants of the Drayton family to the present day. Magnolia Plantation and Gardens was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens features a row of five slave cabins constructed in 1850. The main house on the property was built as a summer home in Summerville, and moved to Magnolia by barge in 1873. The plantation provides home to the Drayton family tomb, a brick and marble vault constructed in 1700. A school house constructed in 1870 for the children of the black gardeners is currently used as offices, and a small African American cemetery is located in the southern portion of the property. The gardens and ornamental lakes encompass approximately forty acres in totality, while the industrial work on the property is represented by phosphate ditches and a tram road.