Kingsley Plantation, FL

Anchored in the Ft. George River between Talbot Island and Ft. George Island. This is a fabulous anchorage! We are surrounded by nature. We have tree lined banks on one side of us and the Salt Marshes of Talbot Island on the other. The marshes are under water at high tide and completely visible at low. We paddled the dinghy ashore and walked the hard sand bar. It is very hard to take a photo of our surroundings that would depict the beauty of this anchorage.

Morning Visit to the Kingsley Plantation We took the dinghy over to The Kingsley Plantation, the oldest slave plantation house in Florida, built in 1813. We visited the main house, kitchen house, barn and ruins of 25 the original slave cabins. The buildings were constructed by enslaved workers who were skilled carpenters, tabby makers and brick layers. The structures were built 200 years ago. Tabby structures were created entirely from locally available materials. Oyster shells were burned and ground for lime. Sand and water were mixed in, and often whole shells were added to speed the hardening of the tabby and to increase the volume and durability. The preserve was a very graphic display of slavery and their daily life. This plantation is run by the National Parks Service and is part of the Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve. Kingsley Plantation slave quarters (the white coating is the restoration).