Campbell Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bluffton, South Carolina)

Bluffton is a town in southern Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 27,716, an increase of over 120% since 2010, making it one of the fastest growing municipalities in South Carolina. Bluffton is the fifth-most populous municipality in South Carolina by land area. It is primarily located around U.S. Route 278, between Hilton Head Island and Interstate 95. The Lowcountry town's original one square mile area, now known as Old Town, is situated on a bluff along the May River. Bluffton is a primary town within the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. After the Tariff of 1842, Bluffton became a hotbed of separatist sentiment, which in turn led to a protest against federal taxes called the Bluffton Movement in 1844. Even though the movement quickly died out, it somewhat contributed to the secession movement that led to South Carolina being the first state to leave the Union. In the Antebellum Period, Bluffton became a popular location for wealthy merchants and plantation owners. During the Civil War, two thirds of the town was destroyed by fire during the Union's Bluffton Expedition on June 4, 1863.

The Cordray House is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1910. In the 1860 Census for St. Luke's Parish, one Isaac H. Martin, mason and a free black man, his wife Pauline H. Martin and their children, Philip, Mary E., Isiah and John H were listed. In the Charleston Mercury account of the 1863 Burning of Bluffton, it is stated that the federal troops set fire to the Martin House. The 1913 Plat Map of the Town of Bluffton shows the Martin property had been divided into several lots, including the site of the present Cordray House. Several families have owned parts of this property. The last remaining Praise House (built to house a new congregation while money was obtained to build a full size church) in the Historic District is behind the Cordray House.

The Planters Mercantile, is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1890. Unlike most 19th century commercial buildings on Calhoun St., the Mercantile is built with two full stories; the ground floor store has very high ceilings, tall windows and entry doors. The store was a business which offered the area, according to their bill head: Clothing, Dry Goods, Boots, Shoes, Hats and Groceries, Furniture, Wagons, Buggies, and Harness, Sewing Machines, Trunks and Satchels, Cigars, Feed, Grits, Flour, Boat Supplies, Coffins and Fixture. Abram suffered an early and possibly accidental death. In 1920 Moses sold the entire property to Julius Ulman and J. Weitz; then in 1930 Paul J. Viens bought it. It then passed back and forth between the Viens and Pinckneys, during which time a Mr. Goodman operated a store there. After his death, Morris Robinowich kept store there until 1972. Many individuals and groups have operated shops and stores therein.

The Patz Brothers House, is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1892. The history of these houses and the Planters Mercantile are woven together. The Patz brothers, Moses and Abram, came from the northeast around 1890. They built the Planters Mercantile first and then in 1892 constructed a semi-detached double residence next door. The paired houses were mirror images with highly decorative eave and porch ornamentation of the late Victorian age. This style while rare in other parts of the county is very prevalent in the south, though The Patz Brothers House is only one of two of its kind in Bluffton. The houses share a central wall. Each house had its own front door, hall, stairway and six rooms. Mr. & Mrs. Lewis J. Hammet restored the exterior. The removal of the interior dividing wall to allow for a wide central staircase leading to the upstairs was done in the 1950s when the house was called "the Old Pinckney Boarding House" .

The D. Hasell Heyward House, is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1914. This cottage was built by Nathan Crosby in 1914 for Daniel Hasell Heyward, Sr. and his wife Hattie Mae Mulligan. Constructed of pine on high brick pilings it has a wide central hallway flanked by large high-ceiling rooms with horizontal narrow pine boards on the walls and ceilings, simple moldings and tall windows front and back. A wide porch stretches the length of the front facade. The structure was restored by Lewis Hammett, Jr. Esq. and serves as his law offices.

Carson Cottage, built in 1890, is an historic building in Bluffton, South Carolina. The first owner of Carson Cottage was J.J. Carson, a soldier in the Confederate Army who distinguished himself at the Battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War. In 1900, Carson organized the First Baptist Church of Bluffton and held services in the house until a church building was completed. Carson Cottage is a one-story house on short piers with a front porch. The structure was recently moved forward and renovated.

The Store, is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1904. The Store sits on a large tract of land which is thought to have been the property of Mrs. John Hais Hardee, née Harriet Saussy. She was listed as the "Head of Household" and a "Planter" in both the 1850 and 1860 Census. There are no known records of who owned the property from 1865 to 1900 when it was owned briefly by the Trustees of the School District #2. In 1904, Jesse Davidore Peeples of Scotia, SC bought the property and built a store and a home beside it for his family. He had five children by his first wife, Willie Mae Stokes and ten by his second wife, Maud Estella Guilford. The house contained six bedrooms and a large sleeping porch. The Store, until the late 1990s was a one-story structure surmounted by a high gable roof and which flanking enclosed side wings with shed roofs. It has been called Peeples Store. The double front doors which have glass panels in the transom, open under a shed roof front porch supported by four square posts.

The Heyward House, is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1841 in the early Carolina Farmhouse style brought to North America by planters from the West Indies. The north parlor and the bedroom above, were the first parts of the house built by John J. Cole and his slaves in the early 1840s as a summer home for his wife Carolina Corley and their children. John J. Coles plantation was approximately 10 miles from downtown Bluffton. His father-in-law owned Moreland Plantation, located on present day Palmetto Bluff. By 1860, Cole had more than doubled the size of the house and his family, at which time the front and side windows in the front rooms were replaced with larger windows. The original parlor windows were reused in the dining room and back bedroom. The interior is clad with wide heart pine boards. The last remaining slave cabin in Bluffton still resides on the property. The original unattached summer kitchen was moved to the rear of the property when a large square attached kitchen was added to the main house in the 1930s. Beetles damaged the original summer kitchen and the structure was reconstructed with original and new wood. Following the Civil War, Mr. Cole who had contracted tuberculosis during his service, died. The Cole family sold their holdings in Bluffton and moved to Texas in 1874. Mrs. Kate Du Bois, wife of the federally appointed Post Master, purchased the property then sold it in 1882 to Mrs. George Cuthbert Heyward, Sr. and it remained in the Heyward family until its purchase in 1998 by the Bluffton Historical Preservation Society. It is now preserved and open to the public as the town's only house museum and has been designated as the official welcome center for the Town of Bluffton.

The Fripp-Lowden House is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1909. This Lowcountry cottage was built in 1909 for Alfred Fripp and his wife Sallie Williams. It is a one-story frame building of pine with a porch across the facade. It is surrounded by a garden that started by Mrs. Fripp, who raised camellias. "The Sallie Fripp" can be seen here when in bloom and is now in many Bluffton gardens. The Fripps' daughter, Mrs. H. O. Lowden, Jr., continued to expand the garden. Today, Lynn Hicks is the current owner of The Fripp-Lowden House, and major renovations are currently being completed to preserve this beautiful historic property. In addition, the building houses the studio of the noted local artist and art professor Amiri Farris.In 1915, Mr. Fripp erected a store on the corner of the property at Calhoun and Bridge streets and sold general merchandise of all varieties. That building was damaged by an out-of-control car and demolished in 1980.

Seven Oaks is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1850. This is a two-story house with double verandas on the south and east sides and two exterior chimneys. The house is called Seven Oaks due to seven very large live oak stumps that support the house. Some of the original interior details remain; there is a visible line running east to west down the center of the northeast parlor floor indicating that an addition was made at some time. The first owner of the house was Colonel Middleton Stuart and his wife, Emma Barnwell Stoney. In 1866 the property was sold to Frances Marion Edward; subsequently, it was owned by Ephraim Mikell Baynard, then E. L Harrison and later by the Baynard family of Hilton Head Island. In the 1920s, Mrs. Elizabeth Sanders operated Seven Oaks as a popular and successful boarding house for salesmen and summer visitors.After a complete renovation which began in 2007, the house was home to a civil war museum before being sold in 2012 as a private home.

The Bluffton Historic District, located in the town of Bluffton, South Carolina, is important due to its position as the commercial hub of southern Beaufort County from 1880–1930. The area includes 46 buildings of residential and commercial architecture, two landscape features that contribute to the district's historic character, and 17 buildings that do not contribute. Important eras are represented in the district, including the Antebellum Resort Era (1815-1860), Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1880), and the Commercial Growth and Decline (1880-1945). The Bluffton Historic District was listed in the National Register on June 21, 1996.

The Allen-Lockwood House is located in Bluffton, South Carolina. It was built in 1850. This cottage was built by William Gaston Allen on the northwest corner of Calhoun and Water Streets for his wife Susan Virginia Bolan and their six children. It is a classic example of the Lowcountry summer cottage with its gabled roof, high-ceiling rooms and numerous windows for cross-ventilation. Raised on brick piers, a wide porch spans the south facade. Colonel Allen was a planter of the May River Neck area. In 1866, he went bankrupt. At a forced sale in 1873 to his daughter, Susan Virginia (married to a Thomas Postell Lockwood) bought the house for $10. It remained in the Allen-Lockwood family until 1953.