Tall Timbers Plantation (Florida)

Tall Timbers Plantation was a quail hunting plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States established by Edward Beadle in 1895.

History

In 1826, John Phinzy of Georgia purchased Lot 4 of Section 22, Township 3 North, Range 1 East. In 1827, Samuel Bryan purchased Lot 1, Section 22 and Island 3 on Lake Iamonia within Section 22. In 1834, Dr. Griffin W. Holland, of Virginia purchased Lots 2 and 3 of Section 22, Township 3 North, Range 1 East naming the property Woodlawn. Dr. Holland lived at Woodlawn for about 10 years. Holland sold the land to Alexander Mosely in 1871. [Paisley, Clifton; "From Cotton To Quail", University of Florida Press, c1968.] [Bauer, Robin Theresa, Master's Thesis, Department of History, Florida State University, 2005]

"Also see: Woodlawn"

Edward Beadle was an avid sportsman from New York City and had been coming to the Piney Woods Hotel, a massive wood structure in Thomasville, Georgia for some time. The hotel was built around 1885 and attracted New Yorkers to Thomasville during the winter months. (The Piney Woods burned in 1906). [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C07E4DF1438E233A25755C0A9659C94639ED7CF University of Phoenix Archives] ]

Beadle would often cross the Florida border to hunt on the property of Charlie Davis. Beadle was so impressed with Leon County that he purchased convert|2200|acre|km2 of land along the north shore of Lake Iamonia for $8000. The property had been owned by the heirs of Eugene H. Smith and was called Hickory Hill. It consisted of land from the Woodlaswn and other land to the west. Beadle built a $3000 home where and old plantation house once stood and renamed the property Tall Timbers. The home had its own water tower, boat house from where duck hunts began, and other out buildings.

Tall Timbers was used not only for quail hunting, but also rabbit, dove, pheasant and duck [ [http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/ Florida Memory Collecction - Illustrations within photos] ] .In 1919, Edward Beadle died and the property passed to his nephew, Henry L. Beadle who had been hunting in Leon County since 1894. Henry Beadle enlarged the plantation to convert|2800|acre|km2. [Paisley, Clifton, "From Cotton To Quail: An Agricultural Chronicle of Leon County, Florida, 1860-1967", University of Florida Press, 1968. p. 78. ISBN 13: 978-0-8130-0718-2] Field hunting was accomplished via horse drawn carriage. For duck hunting, Henry used a handmade tin boat of between 8 and 9 feet in length. Tall Timbers also had a number of canoes. [ [http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/ Florida Memory Collection] - Illustrations within photos of canoes] . By this time, the house had a huge stone fireplace and rustic furniture fit for a lodge. The exterior had a sweeping porch facing the lake.

Adjacent plantations: In 1947 Foshalee Plantation bordered Tall Timbers on the east. In 1967, Mistletoe Plantation bordered Tall Timbers on the extreme northwest.

In 1963, his cousin, Henry Beadel, established the Tall Timbers Research Station Foundation for land and wildlife management. [ [http://www.taltrust.org/taltimbr.htm Tall Timbers Research] at [http://www.taltrust.org Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation, Inc.] ] On April 7, 1989, convert|2800|acre|km2 of the property was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

References

* [http://www.talltimbers.org Tall Timbers Research Center and Land Conservancy]
* [http://www.nature.org The Nature Conservancy]
* [http://www.qu.org Quail Unlimited]
* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/FL/Leon/state2.html Leon County listings] at [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com National Register of Historic Places]