History Chase..Here I Go Again!

Sea BreezesAshantilly To Be Recognized in New Historical Marker October 25
The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) along with The Lower Altamaha Historical Society will unveil a new historical marker to recognize Ashantilly plantation. The dedication will be held on the grounds of Ashantilly, Highway 99, north of Darien, Georgia on October 25, 2009, at 3:00 p.m.

From one of colonial Georgia's most prominent families, Thomas Spalding was an influential planter who helped develop the plantation economy of the low country as an advocate for modern agricultural ideas including crop rotation and diversifying the crop varieties beyond the standard rice, indigo, and cotton. The Ashantilly property was inherited from his mother, Margery McIntosh Spalding. Although possessing a large estate on Sapelo Island, Spalding built the Ashantilly house as an inland domicile for his family. Accounts of the structure suggest it was classically designed; the building consisted of a central, two story structure and flanking wings. Like Spalding's homes on Sapelo, Ashantilly was constructed of tabby, a concrete like material derived from oyster shells, found in abundance in tidewater Georgia. The Spalding family sold the property in 1870 to William A. Wilcox, founder of the Ashantilly Press.

The marker text reads as follows:

Ashantilly

Built ca. 1820, Ashantilly was the mainland residence of prominent antebellum planter Thomas Spalding (1774-1851), owner of the nearby Sapelo Island plantation. The house, likely built by Spalding's slaves, was constructed of tabby, an equal mix of oyster shell, sand, water and lime. Ashantilly was named for Spalding's ancestral home in County Perth, Scotland. He died at Ashantilly and is interred in the family burial ground adjacent to the property. William G. Haynes, Jr. (1908-2001), proprietor of the Ashantilly Press, was the last private owner of Ashantilly. In 1993 the Haynes family donated the property to the Ashantilly Center, Inc.

Erected by the Georgia Historical Society and The Lower Altamaha Historical Society....borrowed from the GHS website

Here I go again...running after local Georgia history. I am going to tour Ashantilly this afternoon. Ashantilly is the summer mansion of Thomas Spalding, the builder of Reynolds Mansion over on my beloved Sapelo Island where my friends and I stay each summer. All of the above information will get you caught up, until I come home and share my pictures and tell you more. One of the best parts about living on the Georgia Coast is the never ending living history that is all around us. Ashantilly is maybe 10 minutes from my home, drive time. Folks in coastal Georgia are intense about preserving their history. I am intense about soaking it in. I have had the rare opportunity to speak to folks over on Sapelo Island whose great great grandparents were slaves. Oh my, and off I go again. We are the product of those who came before us in this sacred and lovely place.....the sweat and blood and sacrifice of the slave labor that developed the area I call home is important for me to understand. I equate it with the sweat and blood and sacrifice of my Lord who developed the area I will someday call home. These are my thoughts on this lovely October day in Darien Ga. Will write more later, I am off to Ashantilly....