Enslaved Quarters at Hermitage Plantation, near Savannah, Georgia

THF250050 / Enslaved Quarters at Hermitage Plantation, near Savannah, Georgia
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Artifact Overview

The cabins in this photograph were once home to families of enslaved workers on Henry McAlpin's Hermitage Plantation, near Savannah, Georgia. From the early-to-mid-1800s, these workers made McAlpin's plantation prosper by producing barrels, lumber, and cast-iron products, and growing rice--but mostly by making bricks at the plantation's brickworks. Enslaved workers built about 50 cabins with this brick--an unusual building material for slave quarters.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

EI.1929.2388

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
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    Hermitage Slave Quarters

    Enslaved African Americans built and lived in these brick quarters on the Hermitage Plantation, located just north of the city of Savannah in a rice-growing region. Owned by Henry McAlpin, in 1850 this prosperous plantation had 200 enslaved workers who lived in about 50 similar buildings. These enslaved workers cultivated rice, and manufactured bricks, rice barrels, cast iron products, and lumber.
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    Hermitage Slave Quarters

    Enslaved African Americans built and lived in these brick quarters on the Hermitage Plantation, located just north of the city of Savannah in a rice-growing region. Owned by Henry McAlpin, in 1850 this prosperous plantation had 200 enslaved workers who lived in about 50 similar buildings. These enslaved workers cultivated rice, and manufactured bricks, rice barrels, cast iron products, and lumber.