College of Charleston Foundation buying McLeod Plantation

The College of Charleston Foundation is buying the McLeod Plantation. The college said Friday it is buying the historic South Carolina property that dates to 1678 from the Historic Charleston Foundation for $4 million.

The James Island plantation could be used as a laboratory to study historic preservation, archaeology and biology and could provide space for recreational sports. McLeod Plantation had once been envisioned as a campus for the nearby American College of the Building Arts.

But that college sold it back to the foundation last year to bolster college finances. The plantation house itself dates to the 19th century and was used as a hospital during the Civil War. The property includes a row of slave cabins.