Kingsley Plantation Kitchen House with the Main House behind
On a windy March morning during Spring Break, my husband and I decided to drive out to a site that I'd heard about but had never visited - Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island north of Jacksonville, Florida. Even now, the plantation seems remote and secluded. I can only imagine what it must have been like over 200 years ago. The main house was built just a few years before 1800 and is the oldest surviving plantation house in the state of Florida. Since 1991, it has been part of the National Parks Service. At one time the plantation was 1000 acres; today the park encompasses 60 acres.
The rear of the main house faces the Fort George inlet
The plantation was bought by Zephaniah Kingsley in 1814 and eventually grew sea island cotton, citrus, corn, beans, potatoes, and sugarcane. He owned several plantations in the greater Jacksonville area, including Laurel Grove plantation at Doctors Lake, not far from where I live, which he purchased in 1803. Kingsley was a London born slave trader who eventually possessed over 32,000 acres in northeast Florida, including four major plantation properties and 200 slaves. In 1806, he bought a 13 year old slave girl, Anta Majigeen Ndiaye, from West Africa and married her. Renamed Anna Kingsley, she was Zephaniah's capable and trustworthy wife who over the years ran his plantations while he was away on shipping business.
In 1811, he freed Anna and their three children. They would have one more child together. He and his wife lived in Laurel Grove until 1813, prior to moving to Fort George Island. Some sixty years later in 1877, the town of Orange Park was established on Laurel Grove plantation land, but that's another story.
In 1811, he freed Anna and their three children. They would have one more child together. He and his wife lived in Laurel Grove until 1813, prior to moving to Fort George Island. Some sixty years later in 1877, the town of Orange Park was established on Laurel Grove plantation land, but that's another story.
Ma'am Anna Kitchen House
The main house is only open for tours on the weekend, but we walked through the kitchen house and peeked in the windows of the house. The kitchen house was probably added during the 1820s and has floors made of tabby, a concrete like building material made by burning oyster shells to create lime, and mixing it with sand, water, ash, and oyster shell fragments. Over time, the roughness of the tabby became smoother as it was walked on. I imagine it would be quite uncomfortable to walk on without shoes! In the above picture, the kitchen house is connected to the main house by a covered walkway. Anna and her children lived on the second floor of the kitchen house.
Cherokee Rose
The Kingsley family lived on Fort George for 25 years. An unusual aspect of the Kingsley household was that it was polygamous. Kingsley had children with three other slave women who were treated as co-wives and later granted their freedom, but Anna was the matriarch of the family. He was proud of his multiracial family and believed that society should be modeled after the Spanish three-tier system of white landowners, slaves, and freed blacks.
There were 60 slaves that worked the plantation on Fort George Island. Besides farming, Kingsley trained his slaves in carpentry, blacksmithing, and cotton ginning. They labored under a task system where each slave had a quota of work to be accomplished. When they finished their tasks, they were free to do as they pleased, usually tending their individual gardens, fishing, and even selling their produce. It seems that Kingsley was a more lenient slave holder than some. Thirty two slave cabins were constructed out of tabby and were arranged in a semicircular arc within view of the main house, an arrangement that was unique among the plantations of that era. Each cabin had two rooms, one with a fireplace, and a sleeping loft. Today, these remains are some of the best examples of the use of tabby as a construction material.
There were 60 slaves that worked the plantation on Fort George Island. Besides farming, Kingsley trained his slaves in carpentry, blacksmithing, and cotton ginning. They labored under a task system where each slave had a quota of work to be accomplished. When they finished their tasks, they were free to do as they pleased, usually tending their individual gardens, fishing, and even selling their produce. It seems that Kingsley was a more lenient slave holder than some. Thirty two slave cabins were constructed out of tabby and were arranged in a semicircular arc within view of the main house, an arrangement that was unique among the plantations of that era. Each cabin had two rooms, one with a fireplace, and a sleeping loft. Today, these remains are some of the best examples of the use of tabby as a construction material.
Remains of Slave cabins made of tabby
Slave cabin remains with tabby walls at Kingsley Plantation
Remains of a moss covered fireplace in a slave cabin at Kingsley Plantation
Closeup of moss on the fireplace
Because of increasingly restrictive racial laws leading up to the Civil War, Zephaniah Kingsley sold his plantation and moved with his family and slaves to Haiti in 1839. The plantation on Fort George Island changed ownership several times until 1955 when the Florida Park Service acquired most of Fort George Island, including the plantation grounds and called it Kingsley Plantation State Historic Site.
Today the plantation grounds are forested where fields and gardens were once cultivated. Ancient oak trees draped in Spanish moss keep watch over the remains of the slave cabins. Scattered wild flowers add to the quiet dignity of the area. They whisper of the people who lived, labored, and loved here long ago.
Today the plantation grounds are forested where fields and gardens were once cultivated. Ancient oak trees draped in Spanish moss keep watch over the remains of the slave cabins. Scattered wild flowers add to the quiet dignity of the area. They whisper of the people who lived, labored, and loved here long ago.
Spanish moss draped ancient oak tree
Wild violet
Spiderwort
We enjoyed our visit to Kingsley Plantation and learned more about the people whose influence still lingers here, in the area where we live.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Debbie
Thanks for stopping by!
~Debbie
