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Made with high quality Tin sign , size 8×12 in. with 4 predrilled small holes on the corns
Jonathan Lucas I (1754–1821) was an English millwright who emigrated to South Carolina after the Revolution.
He revolutionized rice cultivation in the Lowcountry by inventing water-powered rice mills, which made milling much more efficient.
His innovations turned rice into one of South Carolina’s most profitable exports.
The Lucas family became wealthy planters and mill owners, leaving a major legacy in Charleston.
Built: Early 19th century, by Jonathan Lucas II (his son).
Style: Large Georgian/Adamesque double house, typical of Charleston’s elite residences of the time.
Location: Originally part of a larger estate near present-day Calhoun Street (then the city’s outskirts).
Later history:
Remained in the Lucas family for generations.
Sold and subdivided as Charleston urbanized.
The house itself survived the Civil War and the 1886 earthquake, though heavily modified over the years.
The Lucas House is directly tied to Charleston’s rice economy, which shaped the Lowcountry’s society, wealth, and also its reliance on enslaved labor.
It’s one of the few surviving residences linked to an inventor whose technological innovations changed South Carolina’s agriculture.
Made with high quality Tin sign , size 8×12 in. with 4 predrilled small holes on the corns
Jonathan Lucas I (1754–1821) was an English millwright who emigrated to South Carolina after the Revolution.
He revolutionized rice cultivation in the Lowcountry by inventing water-powered rice mills, which made milling much more efficient.
His innovations turned rice into one of South Carolina’s most profitable exports.
The Lucas family became wealthy planters and mill owners, leaving a major legacy in Charleston.
Built: Early 19th century, by Jonathan Lucas II (his son).
Style: Large Georgian/Adamesque double house, typical of Charleston’s elite residences of the time.
Location: Originally part of a larger estate near present-day Calhoun Street (then the city’s outskirts).
Later history:
Remained in the Lucas family for generations.
Sold and subdivided as Charleston urbanized.
The house itself survived the Civil War and the 1886 earthquake, though heavily modified over the years.
The Lucas House is directly tied to Charleston’s rice economy, which shaped the Lowcountry’s society, wealth, and also its reliance on enslaved labor.
It’s one of the few surviving residences linked to an inventor whose technological innovations changed South Carolina’s agriculture.
