Carolina Gold Rice

Rice became a cash crop in the new American colonies in the 1690s. In the 1720s rice became the major crop in the South Carolina colony with six million pounds shipped to England annually. Seventy percent of the five million bushels produced in America were grown in South Carolina by 1860.

Carolina Gold rice got its name from the rich golden color of the ripe plants in early autumn. However, the name also signifies the financial success it brought to early planters.

Wetland rice farming was common in West Africa and rice production in South Carolina could never have happened without slaves from the West African countries. These slaves brought expertise not available elsewhere. They cleared the land and installed elaborate systems of sluices and dikes. The rice was planted in the traditional African heel-and-toe method and fields flooded at appropriate intervals. Slaves harvested the rice by hand. They wove baskets from sweet grass and carved huge wooden mortars and pestles to hull the grain. Accomplished African cooks were renowned for their sumptuous Creole creations.

The end of the Civil War was the beginning of the end for Carolina Gold. Other varieties of rice were introduced as cash crops to other states where heavy mechanical equipment could replace expensive hand labor. The marshy soil, floods, silting from cotton farming and hurricanes hastened the end. The last commercial Carolina Gold rice crop was harvested in South Carolina in 1927.

Thanks to Dr. Richard Schulze and his wife, Patricia, Carolina Gold rice was brought back to the Lowcountry. By the late 1980s, Turnbridge Plantation, the Schulze’s vacation property in Hardeeville, SC, was producing 10,000 pounds per year. In 2004 the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation was created to help restore and preserve the heirloom rice.

You can now enjoy the unique nutty flavor and rich texture of this former South Carolina staple once again.