International Paper at Eastover
New Life for a Grand Old Manor

When International Paper, formerly Union Camp Corporation, purchased the land for its Eastover, SC mill in 1981, it got all of the things it looked for. And something else besides.

Situated on the 4,000 acre site in central South Carolina was an old house known as the Kensington Mansion. It was built in the early 1850s by Mathew Richard Singleton, a wealthy and influential resident of the area. Though Singleton died before the house was completed, it remained in his family for many years.

Although Kensington had been added to the National Historic Register in 1971, by the time International Paper acquired the property, Kensington Mansion had been unoccupied for forty years and was in a state of advanced deterioration. Sensitive to the concerns of the many history-minded citizens who were interested in its preservation, International Paper embarked upon a program of extensive restoration as part of the mill construction project. Work began in June of 1983 and was completed a year later.

Join us on this pictoral history of Kensington Mansion from the 1890s through the restoration and up to the present day when the beautifully restored Kensington Mansion is used to education the public on the history of Lower Richland County. All of these images are either file photos from International Paper's Eastover mill or are a part of the Scarborough-Hamer Foundation's research collection.