Retreat Plantation Tabby

11/17/2015

16 Comments

Retreat Plantation Slave Hospital (Photo by Barbara Stevenson)

Retreat Plantation Greenhouse (Photo by Barbara Stevenson)

Retreat Plantation Corn Barn (Photo by Barbara Stevenson)

Tabby House Gift Shop (Photo by Barbara Stevenson)

Description

Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island maintains several remnants from Retreat Plantation: the tabby ruins of a slave hospital, tabby walls from a green house, a tabby corn barn converted into a golf course clubhouse, the brick ruins of the plantation house, and a slave cemetery. One remaining tabby slave cabin, located on Frederica Rd., has been restored and turned into a gift shop.

History

The first plantation on the southwestern portion of St. Simons Island was Orange Grove, constructed by Thomas Spalding in the 1790s. In 1804 Major William Page purchased it and created Retreat Plantation. After his death in 1827, it passed to his daughter Anna and her husband, Thomas Butler King. During the Civil War, the slave Neptune Small retrieved the body of his master, Henry Lord King, from the battlefield at Fredericksburg and brought him home for burial. To reward his loyalty, the King family gave Neptune a parcel of land after the war (now Neptune Park by the ocean pier) and after his death erected a tombstone in his honor in the Retreat Plantation cemetery. Developer Howard Coffin bought Retreat Plantation in the 1920s and converted it to a golf club.

Location

GPS: N 31°08.405, W 81°24.418 (ruins at Sea Island Golf Club)
Address: 100 Retreat Ave., St. Simons Island GA 31522. Just a short walk from the golf course parking lot, the ruins are situated between Plantation Golf Course and the driving range.
Accessibility: Only guests of Sea Island are allowed on the property.

GPS: N 31°09.533, W 81°23.325 (Tabby House Gift Shop)
Address: 1550 Frederica Rd., St. Simons Island GA 31522 (at the Demere Rd. traffic circle)

16 Comments

Al Wessel Jr MD

6/9/2017 05:30:28 am

Thanks. awHow may I visit Neptune Smalls grave site?

Barbara Stevenson

6/9/2017 11:27:33 am

Hi,

The cemetery and the other ruins of Retreat Plantation are in walking distance from the Lodge. The cemetery is in a small wooded area adjacent to the Seaside Golf Course and the little parking lot off Retreat Rd. If you are staying at the Lodge, I bet the people working there can point it out to you.

Thanks for your question.

Barbara

Shawn Armstrong

6/10/2017 08:31:44 pm

When were the ruins closed to the public? I believe we may have visited in 2004?

6/11/2017 02:04:56 pm

I do not know how long the Lodge has had the guard on duty. I visited the ruins while attending a golf tournament at the Sea Island Golf Club.

Belinda DeLoach Harden Crews

8/10/2021 05:03:48 pm

I have found out that my great grandmother is buried in the cemetery there. Her name is Eliza Beaubien, I truly want to honor her and pay my respect. Please let me know how I can visit her final resting place. It is so very important to me.
Belinda Crews

8/10/2021 05:48:57 pm

Hi Belinda,

The cemetery is on the grounds of the privately-owned Lodge at Sea Island. You will need to call the resort to see if you can be given permission to visit. Good luck!

William Barnes

2/12/2022 11:16:59 am

Belinda, my ancestors and recently deceased relatives are buried at Retreat cemetery. My g-g-grandfather is Neptune Small. If your great grandmother is buried there, then you do not need to arrange to visit the site. You can simply tell the guard at the entrance that you are there to go to the cemetery to visit your great grandmother's grave. They will allow you access....no questions asked. I visit the site every summer. Take care.

2/13/2022 10:32:44 am

I did not know that, William. Thank you for the information.

2/13/2022 11:36:43 am

Belinda, you are so welcome.

Jeff Carbine link

1/26/2022 08:21:49 am

I like what you said the tabby remnants of a slave infirmary, tabby walls from a greenhouse, a tabby corn barn transformed into a golf course clubhouse, the plantation house's brick ruins, and a slave cemetery. This is a good article, my uncle is looking for info and this should help him. I wanted to thank you for your explanation about burials.

1/27/2022 08:19:54 am

Thank you, Jeff. Your kind comments are deeply appreciated.

Kevin Posey

10/6/2022 12:32:24 pm

I live here on the island and have always been a history freak. I'm a bit perturbed why you have those things, relics, historical items, graveyard and even a gift shop and the public isn't allowed to view? Why can't a resident view the history of where they live? What's the point of restoration?

10/13/2022 09:46:59 am

I agree. Sea Island is an exclusive resort, but it is a shame that the historical structures on the property are not open to the public.

Barb Adams link

2/9/2023 08:43:50 pm

We were on vacation at St Simon's last week and my husband entered the GPS coordinates so we could go see the ruins of Retreat. The guy at the guardhouse stopped us and said the only retreat he knew about was the Methodist one and we needed to turn around and go the other way. My husband said we wanted to see the historic ruins and the guy said we couldn't go any further because it was private. How disappointing.

2/12/2023 02:53:12 pm

That is too bad! Your complaint is a common one. Although the description specifies that only hotel guests can access the ruins, I may need to remove this entry from the website because so many visitors are disappointed when they are turned away.

2/12/2023 03:50:00 pm

Thank you for your reply. My husband quickly read the location and thought he would surprise me with a site I didn't know about. After we returned home, I looked at what he read and pointed out to him that it says it's private. He wondered why it was listed then. Oh well, at least we got a general idea of the location.

Retreat Plantation Tabby

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