Butler Island Plantation

Butler Island Plantation is a Georgia historical marker in McIntosh County, dedicated 1957.

Located on Ocean Highway (US 17) in Darien.

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Famous rice Plantation of the 19th century, owned by Pierce Butler of Philadelphia. A system of dikes and canals for the cultivation of rice, inspired by the canals in Holland and installed by enslaved laborers, is still in evidence in the old fields, and has been used as a pattern for similar operations in recent years. During a visit here with her husband in 1838-39, Pierce Butler's wife, the brilliant English actress, Fanny Kemble, wrote her "Journal of a Residence On A Georgia Plantation," which is said to have influenced England against the Confederacy.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1837 · Southern States. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1838 · Georgia (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1840 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1842 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1845 · Georgia (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Georgia, 1838, covering the location of Butler Island Plantation, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Georgia, 1838, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Commission. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

More markers nearby

Enslaved People of Butler Islandsame spot
Famous Butler Authorssame spot
General's Islandunder 1 mi
Port of Darien1 mi