Bull Run Plantation was a private estate owned by Julien C. (Bull) Headley (Heed-Lee) located in Leon County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

Originally a large part of

Water Oak Plantation Water Oak Plantation was a small cotton plantation of located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States established by Richard Bradford. Location Water Oak was located in the general area of Bradfordville. Adjacent plantations: *Pine H ...

owned by

Frances C. Griscom Frances Canby Griscom (19 April 1879 – March 30, 1973) was an American amateur golfer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and part-time resident of Tallahassee, Florida. Griscom won the 1900 U.S. Women's Amateur held at Shinnec ...

, Headley purchased all but a few hundred acres from Griscom in 1951. He named it Bull Run Plantation. Julian C.(Bull) Headley was a lumberman by career. Starting with the land itself, Headley reduced most of the trees converting the land to cattle range where he ran about 500 head of

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk production). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operat ...

and used the

Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog The Catahoula Leopard Dog is an American dog breed named after Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. It became the state dog of Louisiana in 1979. It is recognized by the United Kennel Club under the name ''Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog'', while the Am ...

for herding.

The house

Upon purchasing the property, Headley found that the old Griscom home was too small and in need of extensive repairs. Headley had the house razed and built a new brick

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

overlooking

Lake Iamonia Lake Iamonia is a large, subtropical prairie lake in northern Leon County, Florida, United States, created during the Pleistocene epoch. History Forming Iamonia Lake Iamonia's base was established during the Early Pleistocene through submerg ...

. He brought in

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

and other expensive wood for the home's interior

paneling Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

and finish work. The

roof A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

was over-engineered using

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...

s which measured by and set every . Headley also built a large bathhouse and

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

reportedly to cost $25,000. He also had polar bear rugs. The bricks from Griscom's home were used along with bricks he brought in from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to create terraces and walkways.

Grounds

Headley was a sportsman enjoying

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

sports fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...

. He preserved large areas of his property especially for hunting and fishing. He constructed a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

to slow a small stream that flowed south to north to create the chain of lakes now running through Golden Eagle Country Club. Headley then created his own

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

lake called

Lake Monkey Business Lake Monkey Business is a private park and lake not opened to the public located in northern Leon County, Florida and within the planned private community of Killearn Lakes Plantation. History Though the lake was created by Julian C. "Bull" Head ...

Sale

In 1964 Headley became attracted to the prospects in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, specifically its

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

resources. Headley sold his property to a

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...

of sportsmen and left for

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

(

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

). The syndicate was interested in a recreational preserve. One of the members was

Gillis Long Gillis William Long (May 4, 1923 – January 20, 1985) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. representative from Louisiana. He was a member of the Long family and was the nephew of former governors Huey Long and Earl Long a ...

, a Congressman from

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and assistant secretary of the

Office of Economic Opportunity The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an i ...

under President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

Kinhega Lodge Kinhega Lodge was a hunting and fishing plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, Leon County, Florida, United States on Lake Iamonia. From the 1830s through 1866 the land was part of the cotton plantation known as Water Oak Plantation ...

was established and a Donald Davis was put in charge of developing fields and ponds and supervise hunting and fishing. Plans for a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

and

landing strip According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, o ...

overextended the resources of the syndicate causing its end.

References

*Paisley, Clifton; ''From Cotton To Quail'', University of Florida Press, c1968. *Unknown author: History of Killearn Lakes Plantation {{coord missing, Florida Plantations in Leon County, Florida 1951 establishments in Florida