Stafford Plantation
{{Short description|Historic plantation in Georgia, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Stafford Plantation Historic District
| nrhp_type = hd
| nocat = yes
| image = Stafford Plantation.jpg
| caption = Stafford mansion
| nearest_city = St. Marys, Georgia
| locmapin = USA Georgia#USA
| area =
| built = 1901
| architect =
| architecture =
| added = November 23, 1984{{NRISref|2008a}}
| mpsub = Cumberland Island National Seashore MRA
| refnum = 84000265
}}
The Stafford Plantation was a plantation on Cumberland Island in Camden County, on the southeastern coast of Georgia. It was established in the early 19th century by Robert Stafford.
19th century
Stafford acquired portions of lands belonging to General Nathanael Greene through auction, and continued to assemble former Greene family lands so that by 1830 Stafford controlled {{convert|1360|acre}} with 148 slaves. In 1843 Stafford acquired {{convert|4200|acre}} from P.M. Nightingale, a Greene descendant who retained Dungeness. The primary crop was Sea Island cotton.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/seac/arch79.htm|date=2009-01-14|work=History and Archeology at the Robert Stafford Plantation, Cumberland Island |title=Growth of the Plantation|publisher=National Park Service}}
File:Stafford Cemetery, part of the Stafford Plantation on Cumberland Island.jpg
Robert Stafford died in 1877. His heirs sold the property to Thomas M. Carnegie and his wife Lucy, who had also acquired Dungeness. All that remains of Stafford's house is a ruin known as "the Chimneys," a series of 24 hearth-and-chimney structures representing Stafford's slaves' housing, about one kilometer east of the main house.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/seac/archy79.htm|date=2009-01-14|work=History and Archeology at the Robert Stafford Plantation, Cumberland Island |title=Archeological Investigations |publisher=National Park Service}}
20th century
The Stafford Mansion was built by Lucy Carnegie in 1901, for one of her children. It was one of a series of Carnegie houses on the island, including Plum Orchard, Greyfield, and the main Carnegie residence at Dungeness.{{cite web|url=http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=GA&PARK=CUIS&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=69|date=2009-01-14|work=List of Classified Structures|title=Stafford Mansion|publisher=National Park Service}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=GA&PARK=CUIS&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=63|date=2009-01-14|work=List of Classified Structures|title=Stafford Slave Settlement Well |publisher=National Park Service}}
;Present day
The property is privately held under a life estate by a Carnegie descendant within Cumberland Island National Seashore.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/cuis/upload/IslandMap.pdf|date=2009-01-27|title=Cumberland Island National SeaShore (Map)|work=NPS map showing Stafford as "Private/Retained-rights" property|publisher=National Park Service}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Stafford Plantation (Cumberland Island, Georgia)|position=left}}
- {{HABS |survey=GA-2360 |id=ga0917 |title=Stafford Plantation, Cumberland Island, Camden County, GA |photos=1 |cap=1}}
- {{HABS |survey=GA-2360-A |id=ga0918 |title=Stafford Plantation, Playhouse, Cumberland Island, Camden County, GA |photos=10 |dwgs=1 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{NRHP in Cumberland Island NS}}
Category:Slave cabins and quarters in the United States
Category:Houses in Camden County, Georgia
Category:Houses completed in 1901
Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Cumberland Island National Seashore
Category:Cotton plantations in Georgia (U.S. state)