Snowy Range Pass

Snowy Range Pass

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation


Around 1806 Williams Braisford purchased land along the Altamaha River in Georgia.  He started one of many rice plantations on the coastal plain.   Eventually it would grow to 7300 acres.  Before the Civil War, the plantation prospered from the rice crop being tended by 357 slaves. 



After the Civil war, the crop became unprofitable from a combination of loss of low cost labor and competition from other crop growers in the US and overseas.  Much of the land was sold after the war to pay property taxes imposed by the state.  Despite these setbacks, the property would remain in the family for five generations.



The plantation house that remains was built in the early 1850’s and was used by the family until the last family member, Ophelia Dent, died in 1973.  She was the last of two sisters that operated a dairy farm that allowed them to keep the property and donate it to the state debt free.



A guided tour of the house explains the history of the plantation and the lives of those who lived and worked here.  For me, it was a surprise to learn of the many rice plantations that operated on the river before the Civil War.  There are walking trails among the many trees and visiting the river bottom areas where the rice was grown.























This stop proved to be our last stop on our Georgia trip.  As I mentioned in a previous post, we were returning to the motorhome after visiting the interpretive center at the entrance and Anneke slipped on a hickory nut and fell.   After a visit to an urgent care, we decided to head for home.




10 comments:

Sherry said...

I'd almost forgotten about Anneke's fall. I hope she's completely recovered by now. I was surprised to find when we visited places in George, South Carolina and even Florida how many rice plantations there were. I had always thought the Southern plantation were all cotton with some tobacco in North Carolina and Virginia. Over 350 slaves is just staggering.

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

Nice to have a house for Anneke to recover in. Ask me how I know... :cO

Nickie and Jim said...

I think it's fun visiting these old plantations ... it sure gives a sense of how hard life was back in those days. I like my comfortable motor home (and my bricks/mortar house in Nevada City)!

Anneke is all right?

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

She is fine, just need some time to recover.

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

This is one of the smaller plantation homes but still very lovely.
Hope Anneke is doing much better today.

Bob and Jo said...

Glad Anneke is fine, I had completely forgotten about that. You guys find the neatest places to visit. Added to our list.

our awesome travels said...

Nice to get out and about hope Anneke get feeling better soon.

Gypsy said...

Great photos of the old home place. I didn't realize there were so many rice plantations in the south at one time - like you, I thought it was mostly cotton.

Happytrails said...

What a lovely plantation home and property!!! Love those trees!! I am sorry about Anneke's fall and sure hope she is doing much better!!

Wanderin' said...

You seem to find some very interesting places to visit. Thanks for taking us along.