The Callaway Plantation, also known as the Arnold-Callaway Plantation, is a set of historical buildings, and an

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

located in

Washington, Georgia Washington is the county seat of Wilkes County, Georgia, United States. Under its original name Heard's Fort, it was briefly designated as the state capital during the American Revolutionary War. It is noted as the place where the Confederacy ...

. The site was formerly a working cotton

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

with enslaved African Americans. The site was owned by the Callaway family between 1785 until 1977; however, the family still owns a considerable amount of acreage surrounding the Callaway Plantation. When The plantation was active, it was large in size and owned several hundred slaves. The museum site is a area containing the main houses that was donated by the family to the city of Washington in 1977. Additional buildings were moved to the site to represent typical plantation buildings. The museum is operated by the city of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The site is considered notable and historical by the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP) because the main manor house it is a rare example of the

Greek Revival architecture The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

used as a plantation house, and is an example of

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

Reconstruction-era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the blood ...

Georgia. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places list since April 11, 1972.

Callaway family history

The Callaway family of Georgia is descent of Peter Callaway (1640–1715) an immigrant who came to the United States from England. Fuller Earle Callaway, and Cason Jewell Callaway (1894–1961) were part of this same family; and their branch of the family had migrated to west Georgia (to the cities of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

and

LaGrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi Lagrangia

1700s

In 1783, Thomas Edward Callaway and his family moved to the state of Georgia from

Halifax County, Virginia Halifax County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,022. Its county seat is Halifax. History Occupied by varying cultures of indigenous peoples for thousands of years, in histo ...

(by way of

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 ...

). In 1785, John Callaway (1746–1821), one of the four sons of Thomas Edward Callaway, was granted 200 acres of land by the state of Georgia, located 9 miles West from Washington, Georgia. John Callaway built a one room log cabin on the property (which is no longer standing, but was located near the Callaway family cemetery). John Callaway and his son Enoch Callaway held many African American slaves, and the plantation grew cotton for export. The slaves lived in log cabins near the homestead.

1800s

When John Callaway died in 1821, he bequeathed 25 African American slaves to his children and his body was buried in the Callaway family cemetery. The cemetery had existed prior to John's burial, filled with former neighbors in graves that were unmarked or poorly marked with stones. John's son Enoch Callaway died in 1859, and passed on a remaining 8 African American slaves in his will. When slaves died they were buried in a separate burial ground only for African American (which was abandoned in 1910, and is no longer standing). Jobe Callaway, married and moved to

Chambers County, Alabama Chambers County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 34,772. Its county seat is LaFayette. Its largest city is Valley. Its name is in honor of Henry H. Chamber ...

but later returned to Callaway Plantation. Jobe Callaway died at the plantation and left in his will to his son Jacob, "558 acres, where he lives". Jacob Callaway (1760–1855) built his homestead in 1817, most of his wealth came before the American Civil War, he helped raised

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and sold it to England. Jacob Callaway's son Parker inherited 100 acres near the "Fishing Creek" by 1855, and he started amassing and buying tracts of land nearby from his relatives, and by the time he had died he had 3060+ acres. Jacob Callaway's money from the last shipment of cotton accrued interest in the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, which he could not access until after the Civil War ended in 1865 (after Jacob's death). The Callaway family made a large profit from the interest and was able to take that money to fund the building of the brick manor house by 1869 under his grandson Aristide's leadership.

1900s

Parker Callaway's son Aristides sold the majority of the 3060+ acres property to W. R. Callaway, Enoch Jones, and Lucy A. Jones. When Aristides Callaway died, he left 400+ acres to two of his children. Aristides granddaughter, Katie Mae Arnold Hardin (1888–1977) donated her portion of the Callaway property to the city of Washington, Georgia.

Architecture

There are many structures on the property, however the notable buildings include the Parker Callaway homestead (built ), and Aristides Callaway's Greek Revival brick plantation manor house (built ; and nicknamed by NRHP as "the brickhouse"). Other structures include the Jacob Callaway's Grey House (built 1790), a log cabin (), a

one-room schoolhouse One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

(built 1891), the Dally Slave Cabin (built 1840), and a general store (built 1930), all moved to the site from elsewhere in Georgia in order to create the museum. There is also a

corn crib A corn crib or corncrib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It may also be known as a cornhouse or corn house. Overview After the harvest and while still on the cob, corn is placed in the crib either with or without the husk. The ...

, a house for making bricks, and a

smoke house A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.

. The main manor house (built by Aristides Callaway) was built in a "monumental scale", during the Reconstruction-era after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, which indicates the family had much wealth. Bricks were not a common material during that time period or in that location. The Grey House was built in 1790 by Jacob Callaway and still stands on the site, a two-story house in Federal Plain style architecture. The Grey House features period furnishings and decorations.

Museum

The site is currently located across from the Washington-Wilkes airport, but otherwise appears from photographs to represent a rural plantation. A small admission fee is charged. Tourist items are sold at the general store, which also serves as the information center. The buildings feature furniture, tools, and other items characteristic of the old times. File:19-14-081-callaway.jpg, Brick manor house interior, File:19-14-001-callaway.jpg, School house interior, 1891 File:19-14-030-callaway.jpg, Log cabin interior, File:19-14-178-callaway.jpg, Grey House, File:19-14-071-callaway.jpg, Grey House interior,

Controversy

On 25 March 2021, a photo was taken of Georgia state governor,

Brian Kemp Brian Porter Kemp (born November 2, 1963) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 83rd governor of Georgia since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the 27th secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 t ...

as he signed into law the ''

Election Integrity Act of 2021 The Election Integrity Act of 2021, originally known as the Georgia Senate Bill 202, is a law in the U.S. state of Georgia overhauling elections in the state. It mandates voter identification requirements on absentee ballots, limits the use o ...

,'' and in the backdrop of the photo is a painting of the Callaway Plantation's brick manor house. This caused controversy since the Callaway Plantation held enslaved people, though the house itself was built years after the Civil War, and the ''Election Integrity Act of 2021'' is considered by opponents to specifically target the voting rights of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s in Georgia. The juxtaposition of the plantation image above the Governor with the perception of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

in the bill made this headline news on national and international networks. On 28 March 2021 the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

and

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

were among groups that filed court challenges against the ''Election Integrity Act of 2021''.

References

External links

Callaway Plantation
- Washington-Wilkes Historical Foundation

{{Authority control Slave cabins and quarters in the United States Historic house museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Plantation houses in Georgia (U.S. state) Plantations in Georgia (U.S. state) Open-air museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Wilkes County, Georgia Houses in Wilkes County, Georgia Cotton plantations in Georgia (U.S. state) Callaway family