Historian and advocate Joseph McGill still has no estimate of how many slave dwellings survive in South Carolina, but he has a better idea of the condition of some that do.

McGill recently received the results of a structural assessment of 15 cabins at nine sites across the state, beyond the Lowcountry. The reports will be given to their owners as they weigh future repairs.

The structural surveys are a sort of new branch for McGill, whose Slave Dwelling Project has mostly revolved around his personal visits and overnight stays at more than 80 slave dwellings across the country.