Bulow Plantation & coastal plantations (#0461)

A placard describing the growth of sugar plantations in a small segment of the Florida coast, just after the U.S. obtained Florida as a territory in 1821. The most interesting part of this for me was the map on the right indicating that there were 12 active sugar plantations almost in a line in an area that covered just 50 miles of Florida coast. Obviously the notion from my childhood that slavery and plantations were not a big part of Florida culture, is wrong.

On the map of Bulow plantation itself, the plantation house was in the center with the slave cabins arranged around the outside of the half circle. There were 1000 acres of sugar cane and additional acreage of other crops (including cotton and indigo); the sugar mill was further west (to the left) than the area covered in the map.


(Part of a photo-essay series on personal history and race, with keyword FlaAla0518)