Kingsley Plantation House, Fort George Island, northeast Florida between Jacksonville & Amelia Island
History buffs will enjoy the ease of island hopping around Amelia Island, Florida with historic sites both on Amelia and nearby.
One such place is about a 20-minute drive off Amelia’s southern tip (along Heckscher Drive) through the Talbot Islands to visit Fort George Island, Florida, home to Kingsley Plantation. This historic site is reportedly thought to be “the best example of an 1800’s sea island cotton plantation in Florida.” (WATCH KINGSLEY PLANTATION VIDEO below…)
Those with a fascination of the past will enjoy exploring the plantation grounds situated at the northern tip of Ft. George Island (at the Ft. George inlet), part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve administered by America’s National Park Service. The historic park includes a plantation house, kitchen house, barn, and the ruins of 25 of the original slave cabins. According to a Park Service brochure, during Florida’s plantation period (1763-1865), Fort George Island was owned by several plantation owners. However, the property was named after Zephaniah Kingsley, who operated the plantation from 1813-1839.
Take a virtual trip now, to one of the oldest plantations in Florida, by viewing a video tour from the northeast regional center of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, part of its “Virtual Field Trip Series.” Dr. James Davidson of the University of Florida discusses his work at the historic Kingsley Plantation site in northeast Florida. And the next time you’re in the Amelia Island or Jacksonville area, visit the park in person. There’s even a vendor, Ecomotion, offering Segway tours on Fort George Island, including a 2-hour Segway trip looping through the island that includes Kingsley Plantation.
According to the University of Florida, “The entire field of African-American archaeology can actually trace its origin back to Kingsley Plantation, where in 1968 Dr. Charles Fairbanks (former professor at UF) conducted the first-ever scientific excavation of a slave cabin.”
MORE ABOUT THE FLORIDA PUBLIC ARCHAEOLOGY NETWORK
The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) was established by the Florida Legislature with the goal to “to help stem the rapid deterioration of this state’s buried past and to expand public interest in archaeology.”
