Historic Archaeology at Verdura Plantation
by Sharyn Heiland
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On a high promontory, commanding a panoramic view of the entire region, stand ten towering columns of imposing size and marvelous craftsmanship. These columns are the dramatic remains of the Verdura Plantation mansion, built in the 1830s and destroyed by fire in approximately 1890. One of the largest examples of the early antebellum plantation style, it was home to the family of pre-statehood businessman, banker and planter Benjamin Chaires. He came to Tallahassee after pioneering the laying out of Jacksonville. He established the first bank and brought the railroad to Tallahassee, but he was primarily a planter. Verdura was the largest and most elegant plantation in the area, 13 rooms, and three story brick on 9000 acres 7 miles south on Tallahassee. He was the first millionaire ever to reside in the state of Florida. Nearby stand the crumbling crypts and monuments of the Chaires family cemetery, where Benjamin Chaires himself was interred. Despite its rather remote location, this important historic site is being plundered and vandalized. Excavations and graffiti are evident among the columns and within the cemetery itself. The burial vault of Martha Chaires, wife of Benjamin, has been thoroughly desecrated; the remains of the deceased completely removed. The ruins are on private property, the exact location of which is by tradition not revealed, and thus not here identified to prevent wider knowledge of its whereabouts (and thus further looting). Clearing and plowing to create broader hunting vistas further disturbs the site, turning up pottery shards by the thousands, diminishing their scientific and historical value. Very little scientific study has taken place at this critically important site. The precise location of the slave cemetery, known to have existed on the grounds, has not been identified. The locations of the slave quarters, cotton gin, and other outbuildings, have not been charted. The exact site of a Seminole Indian encampment, known to have existed on the property during the Second Seminole War, has not been found. The remains of a Spanish colonial-era mission have been identified, but little studied. Evidence of occupation by Apalachee Indians and earlier aboriginal peoples have not been studied or properly documented. This site, unique in Florida due to its diverse historical influences, is a geographic intersection point of Leon County’s richly textured history. Yet its most prominent features are deteriorating due to vandalism, looting, and the elements -- tree falls slowly destroying what remains of the mansion house and cemetery. The Columns of Verdura dwarf the well-known columns currently located at the former Chamber of Commerce building in Tallahassee, also owned by Benjamin Chaires in 1835 and known today as "The Columns". Like the ruins of an ancient Greek temple, these forgotten giants stand silent sentinel over Florida’s Big Bend region; unseen, uninterrupted and unprotected. The Ruins of Verdura truly are Florida’s Parthenon, and remain the region’s most spectacular hidden historical wonder. Special thanks to Sharyn Heiland for the exemplary work on her master’s thesis on Verdura Plantation in historic archaeology. |
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