Our Generation Florida

Tara by the Manatee

By Sandra Friend

While Tallahassee likes to brag about its high concentration of antebellum plantation homes (more than 70 within an hour’s drive), Ellenton (in Manatee County, just south of Tampa Bay) can crow about being the home of the southernmost remaining plantation in the United States. Flanked by 300-year-old oaks, the grand entrance to the Gamble Plantation Historic State Park (www.floridastateparks.org/gambleplantation) is reminiscent of a scene from “Gone With The Wind.” And like the mythical Tara, the last remaining antebellum plantation in South Florida played an important role in the last days of the War Between the States. As one of the first post-statehood settlers in southwest Florida, Major Robert Gamble established his 3,500-acre sugar plantation along the Manatee River in 1843, shipping his finished products downriver and out into the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans. Built of tabby (a mix of oyster shells and lime) with walls 2 feet thick, his Greek Revival mansion was designed to trap cool air like a cave and to utilize rainwater cisterns for fresh water.

In 1865, the Confederacy fell. It was then the mansion played a crucial part in the end game of the war. Fleeing Richmond, Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin disguised himself as a French journalist, “M. Bonfal,” to travel to Florida. Reaching Brooksville in late spring, he enlisted the confidence of Captain LeRoy Lesley. A $40,000 reward stood for Benjamin’s capture, but Lesley was a loyal Confederate. He escorted Benjamin to the Gamble Plantation, where Captain Archibald McNeil, the new owner of the plantation, hosted the “Brains of the Confederacy” in comfortable surroundings until arrangements could be made for a boat to Nassau. Union soldiers tracked the men down and both Benjamin and McNeil had to flee to elude capture. The promised boat appeared, and Benjamin successfully emigrated to London, where he had a long and successful career in law.

As happened with many grand old plantations in Florida, the mansion was abandoned to the elements and left to deteriorate. In 1925, the United Daughters of the Confederacy purchased the land and donated it to the state with the proviso that it be designated the Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial. Now restored to its original glory, the home features period furnishings and artwork and is one of the few remaining examples of a Florida antebellum plantation. The UDC restored and maintains the Patten House (circa 1895) on the grounds of the state park, open by appointment and during special events. The state park has an entrance fee and there is a small additional fee for a guided tour of the home. The plantation is located in Ellenton, just north of Bradenton, along US 301 south of the I-75 exit for Ellenton.

BIO: Author Sandra Friend <www.sandrafriend.com> is just wrapping up her 13th guidebook to Florida, Orlando & Central Florida: An Explorer’s Guide. A member of the Society of American Travel Writers, she lives in Ocala, and together with her husband shares the joys of offbeat Florida travel at www.genuineflorida.com.