Goodwill Plantation owner buys forest near Congaree River

A Richland County landowner who recently sold part of a plantation for a new state nature preserve has purchased nearly 1,200 acres of undeveloped forest and hardwood swamp near the Congaree River southeast of Columbia.

Larry Faulkenberry and a brother bought the 1,200 acres for $2.9 million from Congaree Carton LP, real estate brokers announced this week.

Faulkenberry was not available for comment on the purchase, but real estate agent Tom Milliken said the new owners plan to use the property as an investment.

Milliken said the land includes the western part of the Millaree Hunt Club, a prestigious sportsmen’s organization and hunting ground in Lower Richland. Faulkenberry will continue allowing the land to be used by the hunt club, Milliken said.

“It is a bottomland hardwood tract, with just a bit of it pines,’’ Milliken said. “It is really an attractive parcel of land.’’

The property is near Beckham Swamp and Longwood roads off of Bluff Road south of Interstate 77.

Congaree Carton is a company affiliated with descendents of the Beidlers, the Midwest family that sold property years ago for what today is Congaree National Park.

Faulkenberry, well known by many Lower Richland landowners, gained statewide attention recently when he sold part of his Goodwill Plantation property near Eastover. The land now is part of the new Wateree River Heritage Preserve. The deal was part of a $23-million sale tied to development of a gold mine north of Camden. The largely forested Goodwill tract in Richland County, which is about 2,500 acres, was used to offset the environmental impacts of the mine in Lancaster County.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Goodwill Plantation owner buys forest near Congaree River."