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KINGSLEY PLANTATION

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The oldest plantation house in Florida is at Kingsley Plantation.  A simple structure, it was built in 1798 and approachable only by ship.  It still sits on Fort George Island located on the St. John’s River in northeastern Florida.

The Main House

Compared to the tabby (a mixture of lime, water, sand and oyster shells) cabins in which the slaves lived, Zephaniah Kingsley’s clapboard house was a mansion.  It has a coquina (a mixture of broken shells and corals cemented together) block foundation with a center square great room containing two fireplaces. 

There is a good size room at each of the four corners of the great room.  These four rooms still have their original southern pine flooring.   A stairway to the second floor bedrooms is on the exterior of the building.  Porches run the length of the house on the northern and southern sides.  The widow’s walk is accessible through a trap door in the attic ceiling.  The kitchen is separate from the main house to help prevent accidental fires.

The Owners

1790-1804   John McQueen

As Jill Howard, Park Ranger, Timucuan National Preserve tells it, the north Florida area was under Spanish rule at this time, including what we now call Kingsley Plantation.  The Spanish were unable to offer sufficient protection from marauding Indians attacking settlers along the St. John’s River so John McQueen is known to have sheltered families in his great house for safekeeping.

1804-1812   John Houstoun McIntosh

Aaron Burr, victor in a duel with Alexander Hamilton and accused of treason against the United States, fled to Spanish Florida to escape the law.  He found himself at the plantation, which at this time was owned by John Houstoun McIntosh.  During a brief rebellion, Mr. McIntosh was president of the short-lived East Florida Republic.  The Florida Patriots flag was one of eight different flags to fly over Amelia Island and the plantation served as Patriots' headquarters.

1814-1837   Zephaniah and Anna Kingsley

Zephaniah Kingsley moved to the plantation in 1814 with a wife and three children.  A fourth child was born on the property.  His wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was from Senegal, West Africa and had been purchased by him as a slave.  As his wife, she openly and actively managed the plantation, acquiring her own land and slaves when her husband freed her in 1811.

25 slave cabins were originally arranged in a semi-circle around the main house.  Although the ruins of these slave cabins still exist, the National Park Service, which presently runs Kingsley Plantation, has reconstructed only one of them.  Basic wooden shutters were used to shut out the seasonal cold.

The plantation sustained itself by growing Sea Island cotton, citrus, sugar cane, and corn.   Sea Island cotton covered most of Fort George Island at one time.  Eventually Kingsley owned as many as 200 slaves and over 32,000 acres in north Florida that included four other major plantations.  However, he managed his properties under a “task” system, meaning once the slaves had completed their assigned duties, they could tend to their own crafts and gardens.  Any profit they made from selling their wares was theirs to keep.

When the United States purchased Florida from Spain, oppressive laws against slaves and freed blacks were enacted.  Kingsley strongly disagreed with this inhumane treatment and moved his wife and sons to Haiti in an area now part of the Dominican Republic, in 1837.  There he established a settlement for his family and some of his former slaves.  He sold his land on Fort George Island to his nephew, Kingsley Beatty Gibbs, in 1839.  Zephaniah Kingsley died in 1843 in New York City, but his descendants still live in the Dominican Republic today.

Hours of Operation

Kingsley Plantation is open to the public every day of the year except Christmas from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Admission

Operated by the National Park Service, admission is free, but donations are accepted.

How to Get There

Kingsley Plantation is located at 11676 Palmetto Avenue, Jacksonville, Florida 32226 on Fort George Island.  The entrance is just north of the Mayport Ferry landing.  Follow the sign and drive three miles down the road to the Plantation.

Phone: 904/251-3537.

For more info visit:  http://www.cr.nps.gov/goldcres/sites/kingsley.htm

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