The Oaks
This early Greek Revival house, built about 1835, is notable for its central double-tiered pedimented portico and double end chimneys. It was named for the oak avenue leading up to it and the oak grove surrounding it. The Oaks was built for Richard A.R. Hallum (1809-1875), who sold it and its 1,000-acre plantation to John Montgomery Lemmon (1829-1906) in 1856.
In February 1865 John M. Lemmon was in the Confederate army in Virginia when elements of Gen. W.T. Sherman’s Federal army advanced toward Winnsboro from Columbia. Foragers looted the plantation, taking food, livestock, and valuables. The Oaks was owned by the Lemmon family or their descendants until the 1980s. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Where it stands. 6169 S.C. Hwy. 213, near its intersection with Jackson Creek Rd. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 20-54), NW of Rion, Rion