Named after one of the Lord’s Proprietors granted charter to the Carolina Colony, the Ashley River flows 36 miles to the famed Charleston Harbor. This relatively undisturbed tidal ecosystem claims unparalleled historic significance and natural resource value. Twenty-six sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places lie along its banks. Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site dates back to 1697 and lies on the upper section of the Ashley River, designated as part of the South Carolina Heritage Corridor. Drayton Hall, (circa 1738) is the only plantation home of the River to survive both the Revolutionary and Civil wars intact. The adjoining Magnolia Gardens has been in the same family since 1671. And Middleton Place, which can be seen from Summer’s Bend, is the nation’s oldest landscaped gardens, laid out in 1741. The Ashley is truly a river of history, beauty and possibilities.