Ashantilly

Sunday, October 25, 2009

11:00 a.m. 

Ashantilly Plantation

Darien Georgia 

Marker Text: 

Built in 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.