HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Boys Estate (Elizafield Plantation)

Glynn County, Glynn County, Georgia

Marker Inscription

Boys Estate (Elizafield Plantation) 1/2 mi. Boys Estate, Georgia's town just for boys, is located one-half mile west of here, on a part of historic Elizafield Plantation. Elizafield, first the home of Dr. Robert Grant, later of his son, Hugh Fraser Grant, was one of the rich River Plantations of the early 19th century. It was cultivated intensively in rice and sugar cane, and the ruins of a large sugar mill built of tabby are still in evidence. In 1935, Cator Woolford gave this tract to Georgia for a State Park, and in 1945 it was made available by the Legislature for the establishment of Boys Estate. 063-22 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1957

Erected by Georgia Historical Commission

The Story

A half-mile west lies Boys Estate, a home for boys set on part of the old Elizafield Plantation, once among the rich rice and sugar estates of the Georgia coast. In the early 19th century Elizafield was the domain of Dr. Robert Grant and later his son Hugh Fraser Grant, cultivated intensively in rice and cane; the tabby ruins of a great sugar mill still stand. Given to the state as a park by Cator Woolford in 1935, the tract was set aside in 1945 for the boys' home.

Why it matters

The plantation embodies the enslaved-labor rice and sugar economy that made the Georgia tidewater wealthy, and its later reuse traces how such lands were repurposed in the 20th century.

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Related people

  • · Dr. Robert Grant
  • · Hugh Fraser Grant
  • · Cator Woolford

Themes & tags

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