“It was a Southern home of the old type, yet having features peculiar to itself because of its location. Life there was far away from the rush of the world, simple, unaffected, kind and happy…”

Were this description written about a homestead in another time and place, it would conjure up images of a typical farm in the rural south. Author Charles H. Olstead, however, was reminiscing about school vacations spent at the Kingsley Plantation in the 1840s, during the height of the plantation period in Florida.

As a guest in the plantation owner’s house, the youngster probably did enjoy a peaceful respite from the strict schoolmaster presiding over reading, writing and arithmetic lessons. As for the 60 to 80 enslaved men, women and children on the plantation, however, life was no holiday.

During the plantation era, Fort George Island’s entire 1,000 acres were used for growing crops. The main cash crop was Sea Island cotton, although crops such as sugar cane, corn, beans and potatoes were also grown for sale and to feed the plantation’s inhabitants.

Each slave was assigned a task based on their age and skill levels. Some worked in the house, some worked in the fields and some performed skilled labor such as carpentry and blacksmithing. When the tasks for the day were finished, slaves were free to hunt, fish, garden, or tend to other personal needs.

The plantation’s slave quarters were constructed from tabby, a strong cement mixture made from oyster shells and sand. Today, 25 of the original 32 slave cabins remain, though a stabilization project has been underway since 2003 to help preserve the structures.

Plantations were often built along waterways, because the easiest way to get crops to market in the late 18^th and early 19^th century was by ship or boat.

The Kingsley Plantation house faces the Fort George River and is the oldest standing plantation house in the state of Florida. Built in 1798, the house was uniquely designed with windows on all sides of the rooms to allow breezes to cross-ventilate the structure during the region’s hot summers.

The railed rooftop platform on top of the two-story section was a common feature in 19^th century coastal homes. These were frequently called widow’s walks. As legend has it, the wives of mariners spent many a lonely hour on them watching for their spouses to return, often in vain.

Though the estate on Fort George Island had several owners during the plantation era, when the State of Florida took over the property in 1955, the site was named Kingsley Plantation in honor of the man who operated the plantation for the longest period of time, Zephaniah Kingsley.

Ironically, Kingsley ran the plantation along with his wife, Anna (Anta Madgigine Jai), his African wife, whom he purchased as a slave in Havana, Cuba in 1806. He freed Anna and their children in 1811 before moving to Fort George Island in 1814.

When Kingsley bought the plantation, Florida was under Spanish rule, which meant that Anna could own her own plantation and slaves. When Spain lost control of Florida in 1821, legislators in the new United States Territories quickly enacted laws that reduced the civil liberties of free blacks, such as Kingsley’s family members.

As the harsh laws restricting the rights of all “persons of color” became intolerable, Kingsley moved Anna, their two sons and 50 of his now freed slaves to Haiti, a free black republic.

A trip to Kingsley Plantation is a not-so-subtle reminder that Florida’s history is a mosaic of bravery and cowardice, honor and disgrace, heart and heartlessness.

But on a warm spring day, as you watch the jet skis zip down the Fort George River you feel a sense of peace standing on the bank near a Southern home of the old type. Life there is far away from the rush of the world, simple, unaffected, kind and happy…

Kingsley Plantation
11676 Palmetto Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida 32226
904-251-3537, alternate number 904-251-3626

Open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
Admission is free.