On Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, Timucuan Preserve, a unit of the National Park Service, will host Harvest Day, a special event marking the end of the harvest season at Kingsley Plantation.
This living history event will be held from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and will include demonstrations of plantation activities, including: cooking, tabby making, musket demonstrations, and the harvest of Sea Island cotton and indigo; two of the historical cash crops for the plantation. “These interactive demonstrations are a great way for families to learn together. We invite families to help with tasks such as cotton ginning, and producing indigo dye" said Superintendent Chris Hughes.
Zephaniah Kingsley owned and operated a 1,000-acre plantation on Fort George Island during the first half of the nineteenth century. In addition to the scheduled event, visitors may also tour the grounds that include the original plantation house, kitchen house, barn, and the remains of 25 tabby slave cabins. The grounds offer graphic evidence of slave living quarters and daily life experiences. Come and honor the skills and knowledge of those enslaved at Kingsley Plantation by learning about the tasks and chores they endured on the Florida frontier.
This event is free and open to the public.
Located off Heckscher Drive/A1A one-half mile north of the St. Johns River ferry landing, Kingsley Plantation is open daily, at no charge, between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. For more information about Kingsley Plantation, call 904-251-3537.
Tags: free harvest day family activities ranger living history
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
