Around 1807, William Brailsford of
Charleston began carving a rice plantation from the virgin cypress swamps along
the Altamaha River. His son-in-law, James M. Troup, acquired additional land
along the river. By the time Troup passed away, he owned 7,300 acres of land,
357 slaves, and several homes.
Until the outbreak of the Civil War, the
plantation produced rice steadily. War, hurricanes, and lack of abundant labor
led to the fall of the rice empire in 1915. Brailsford's descendants converted
the plantation into a dairy that distributed high-quality milk in Glynn County.
Due to a combination of reasons, the dairy closed in 1942. In 1973, the
plantation was willed to the state of Georgia by Ophelia Troup Dent.
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