TABBY RUINS TRAVEL GUIDE
Scattered across the coastline from North Florida through South Carolina are ruins of colonial fortifications, plantation dwellings, and commercial buildings made of tabby. Tabby is a concrete made from crushed oyster shells, lime, sand, and water. Originally the tabby was covered, usually with stucco, but today most ruins are exposed oyster concrete. The Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi captures the allure of these structural skeletons in a lonely landscape.
About the Travel Guide
This travel guide contains the following pages:
The travel guide focuses mostly upon historic tabby ruins that the public can visit.
“Historic ” refers to tabby dating from the 1860s or earlier that was produced by burning oyster shells, not later tabby manufactured by mixing shells with Portland cement or adding shells to stucco. A few exceptions are made for outstanding examples of modern tabby in the vicinity of historic tabby (such as Jekyll Island’s Hollybourne Cottage, which is located close to the historic Horton ruins).
“Ruins” refers to abandoned buildings whose exteriors have worn away to expose the oyster shell concrete. Again, a few exceptions are made, such as St. Simons Island’s Hamilton slave cabins, which have been restored to illustrate the home life of slaves.
Accessibility varies widely. Each entry has a note on accessibility—for example, St. Helena Island’s Chapel of Ease sits by the side of the road and can be seen any time, while the island’s Riverside Plantation is on private property and is open to the public only during the Annual Lands End Woodland River Festival.
- The blog contains descriptions of tabby ruin sites, with each entry consisting of pictures, background information, location and map
- The list page arranges the entries state by state and geographically from south to north
- The contact page gives contact information and background on the author
The travel guide focuses mostly upon historic tabby ruins that the public can visit.
“Historic ” refers to tabby dating from the 1860s or earlier that was produced by burning oyster shells, not later tabby manufactured by mixing shells with Portland cement or adding shells to stucco. A few exceptions are made for outstanding examples of modern tabby in the vicinity of historic tabby (such as Jekyll Island’s Hollybourne Cottage, which is located close to the historic Horton ruins).
“Ruins” refers to abandoned buildings whose exteriors have worn away to expose the oyster shell concrete. Again, a few exceptions are made, such as St. Simons Island’s Hamilton slave cabins, which have been restored to illustrate the home life of slaves.
Accessibility varies widely. Each entry has a note on accessibility—for example, St. Helena Island’s Chapel of Ease sits by the side of the road and can be seen any time, while the island’s Riverside Plantation is on private property and is open to the public only during the Annual Lands End Woodland River Festival.
About Tabby
Tabby was first used as a building material in North America around 1580 by the Spanish in St. Augustine, Florida. Tabby, believed to be from the Spanish word tapia for “mud wall,” declined in popularity when the Spanish discovered coquina, a shellstone that could be quarried. Little tabby survives in St. Augustine.
The British first began making tabby in the late 1600s primarily in Beaufort County, South Carolina, an area which has the most tabby structures today. The tabby was covered, most often with stucco, and the historic town of Beaufort has preserved many of these buildings.
Early tabby constructions tended to be fortifications. After the American Revolution, Thomas Spalding of Georgia encouraged the use of tabby for agricultural and commercial enterprises. Plantation homes, slave cabins, factories, mills, and stores were built with tabby.
Tabby declined in the 1860s because of the abolition of slavery and the introduction of Portland cement. However, the wealthy occasionally had their homes built in a style called "tabby revival." This coastal architectural tradition continues today with pseudo-tabby, a stucco encrusted with shells.
The British first began making tabby in the late 1600s primarily in Beaufort County, South Carolina, an area which has the most tabby structures today. The tabby was covered, most often with stucco, and the historic town of Beaufort has preserved many of these buildings.
Early tabby constructions tended to be fortifications. After the American Revolution, Thomas Spalding of Georgia encouraged the use of tabby for agricultural and commercial enterprises. Plantation homes, slave cabins, factories, mills, and stores were built with tabby.
Tabby declined in the 1860s because of the abolition of slavery and the introduction of Portland cement. However, the wealthy occasionally had their homes built in a style called "tabby revival." This coastal architectural tradition continues today with pseudo-tabby, a stucco encrusted with shells.
