THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The vanished Belvidere Plantation near Charleston is associated with an old Lowcountry ghost story known as "The Haunted Avenue." The tale connects the plantation's destruction and an enslaved woman accused of stealing valuable jewelry with a lingering supernatural presence along the estate's old avenue.
Belvidere Plantation once stood along the Cooper River in the Charleston Neck, just north of the area now occupied by Magnolia Cemetery. The plantation was associated with Colonel Thomas Shubrick and was also known as Belvedere, Shubrick and the Governor's House. Margaret Rhett Martin preserved its supernatural tradition in Charleston Ghosts under the title "The Haunted Avenue." The story concerns an enslaved woman, stolen jewelry and the destruction of Belvidere by fire, after which the plantation avenue became associated with a ghostly presence. Martin noted that portions of the underlying story could be connected with historical records, though the supernatural elements remain folklore. The original plantation house no longer exists, and this map position represents the general historic Belvidere tract rather than an extant building.