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This beautiful plantation represents the
history and culture of Georgia's rice coast. In the early
1800s, using enslaved African-American laborers, William
Brailsford of Charleston carved a rice plantation from
marshes along the Altamaha River. The plantation owners were
part of the genteel low-country society that developed
during the antebellum period.
While many factors made rice cultivation increasingly
difficult in the years after the Civil War, the family
continued to grow rice until 1913. The enterprising siblings
of the fifth generation at Hofwyl-Broadfield resolved to
start a dairy rather than sell their family home. The
efforts of Gratz, Miriam and Ophelia Dent led to the
preservation of their family legacy. Ophelia was the last
heir to the rich traditions of her ancestors, and she left
the plantation to the state of Georgia in 1973.
A museum features silver from the
family collection and a model of Hofwyl-Broadfield during
its heyday. A brief film on the plantation's history is
shown before visitors walk a short trail to the antebellum
home. A guided tour allows visitors to see the home as
Ophelia kept it with family heirlooms, 18th and 19th century
furniture and Cantonese china. The site also includes a
nature trail that leads back to the Visitor Center along the
edge of the marsh where rice once flourished. |