This cemetery is located in Rocks Pond Campground on Campground Road. Go to Entrance of Rocks Pond Campground. First right onto Whipperwhil Trail - all the way to the end of the laned road and to the right. Down the dirt path 100 feet on right in wooded area.
Land that was once "The Rocks Plantation" and was built by Captain Peter Gaillard in 1802 and completed November 27, 1805. This was a large working plantation on the Santee River. The house was moved in 1942- 1.6 miles due to the rising waters of the Santee River for the hydroelectric project. It was established on a part of Belmont Plantation once the home of David Gaillard, a son of Captain Peter Gaillard. The cemetery was not flooded.

It is now a heavily wooded area that time, hurricane Hugo, and growth has almost destroyed. There are headstones that are totally destroyed and could not be read. You can also see that there are graves that are sunken and no headstone or field stones present.

QUOTE FROM: A SKETCH by (Mrs. A. P. Leise Palmer Gaillard)
August 11, 1942.
This plantation situated on the eastern edge of Orangeburg County, once a part of Berkeley County, is now owned by J. Rutledge Connor and to save the venerable dwelling house from a watery grave in the muddy waters of the Santee, at great expense, he has moved it about a mile and a half, and established it on a part of Belmont Plantation once the home of David Gaillard, son of Captain Peter Gaillard who settled the place and built the home "The Rocks."

1907 – Elizabeth and James Gaillard, Jr., sold the plantation to T.L. Connor.

1939-1941 - This cemetery on the Rocks Plantation, Orangeburg County, SC was located near the line between Orangeburg and Berkeley Counties; eight miles east of Eutawville and 27 miles west of St. Stephen. At the time of the inventory, it was on property of J. Rutledge Conner of the Rocks Plantation and was reported to be unfenced, badly neglected and overgrown with grass and brush. Thirty Five graves were identified with markers. Through personal interviews with local residents, cemetery investigators learned the names of over 350 individuals believed to have been buried there.

**Book: Information from Cemetery Records, A Documentary of Cemetery Or Burial Ground Reports and Grave Relocation by Santee Cooper From the Project Area 1939-1941. Prepared by The Berkeley County Historical Society. 1986.

1992 - The Rocks Plantation house was destroyed by fire. Present are still large barns and storage buildings and the overseer's home and of course the rebuilt modest home of The Conner Family.

***UNMARKED GRAVES are all listed together. Select: View ALL Internments from the list.

Advertisement for removal of the cemetery began in February 11, 1941, in The Times and Democrat, a weekly newspaper published in Orangeburg, SC and continued for four consecutive weeks as required by law. There was no response and, after careful survey by the Cemetery Department, it was determined that all graves below the 76 foot elevation would have to be removed. A total of 41 graves, with such markers as were found, were removed to elevation 78 foot in the same cemetery near the Santee Reservoir, Lake Marion.