Before Butterfield was Butterfield, it was pine forest and cropland strung along the Savannah River in what would become South Carolina’s Allendale County.
Before that it was the domain of indigenous Yamassee who sustained themselves on the fish, birds, animals and vegetation of the extensive swamp and majestic cypress that were massive even in that era. Arrowheads and shaped chert tool fragments are still found in cultivated feed plots, particularly after spring rains. James Gordon Campbell, a retired New Jersey investor and timber merchant, arrived in the region in 1927 in search of land for a winter retreat for his family and friends, as was the pattern of wealthy mid-Atlantic residents.
In 1927 he purchased 2,806 acres and in 1929 he constructed a 5,000 square foot home that he called Butterfield, his wife’s mother’s maiden name. By 1948 Butterfield constituted 4,376 acres of Savannah River frontage, cropland and forest, and the property functioned as Mr. Campbell envisioned until his death. Gradual disinterest on the part of his sons prompted its sale to Continental Can Company in 1959 and conversion to an executive retreat. In 1985 Butterfield was sold to Rhodes Perdue, Langhorne Webster and William Webster of Atlanta as their personal retreat. In 1990 Michael Finch purchased the property and enjoyed it as a family retreat until his death in 2018 and sale to the current owner, the great grandson of James Gordon Campbell.