Sumter County Museum
The Sumter County Museum is a private non-profit institution whose mission is to promote the history of Old Sumter District through the preservation and exhibition of objects, manuscripts, and documents, which relate the story of this area of South Carolina. The museum includes the Williams-Brice House (1916), the Heritage Education Center (2003) and the Carolina Backcountry Homestead.
The Sumter County Museum invites you to stroll through our gates and experience life in an elegantly restored Edwardian house built in 1916 by the Moses and Phelps families and given by the Williams-Brice estate in 1972 to become a museum. Inside you'll see one of the finest textile collections in the state. Take in the breadth of our decorative arts and fine art collections. View a splendid military history exhibit documenting American struggles during the 20th century. Linger in our period rooms and imagine life at a slower pace-days filled with the best of Southern hospitality. Listen as you view our exhibit of tools and implements used in everyday life for the past two centuries and you may hear long-silent voices telling of the hard work and determination it took to build our country. Celebrate history with us at the Sumter County Museum.
Carolina Backcountry Homestead
Stroll across the lawn to our Carolina Backcountry Homestead.
This recreated homestead plays host to our living history events. Included in our Homestead are a log cabin, settler's house, a smokehouse, barn, commissary (storehouse), loomhouse, outhouse, blacksmith shop, and gardens.
The Settler's house and the Commissary are original buildings built between 1812 and 1836. The Rollins family donated these two buildings to the museum in 1990.
The museum had the other buildings in the Carolina Backcountry Homestead constructed from materials salvaged from derelict buildings located within Sumter County.
The Martha Brice Gardens
Linger for awhile in the gardens that surround the Museum. Listen to the birds and the trickle of water as it splashes over the fountain and into the fishpond.
Nationally renowned landscape designer Robert Marvin designed the original gardens at the museum in the early 1960's. Today, Marvin's design can still be seen in the curving walkways and plant groupings. The gardens contain dozens of azaleas and camellias, along with magnolias, dogwoods, and many other trees. Towering above this lovely garden are huge 100 year old pecan trees that have grown to over 60 feet high. It's a beautiful place to spend a few quiet minutes.
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