Woodlawn Plantation was a large forced-labor farm located in eastern 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 ...

U.S. 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, owned by Thomas Peter Chaires. Chaires, along with his 2 brothers Green H. Chaires and

Benjamin Chaires Benjamin Chaires Sr. (1786–1838) was an American planter, land owner, banker and investor in Territorial Florida, and may have been the richest man in Florida in the 1830s. He was involved in the creation of the first railroads in Florida. ...

, established large plantations during the Florida Territorial Period of 1821-1845. Green Chaires would establish

Evergreen Hills Plantation Evergreen Hills Plantation was a large cotton plantation of 6700 acres (27 km2) located in eastern Leon County, Florida, United States established by Green H. Chaires. Location Evergreen Hills was located in 2 tracts. The first tract was bord ...

and Benjamin would establish Verdura Plantation.

Plantation specifics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that the Woodlawn Plantation had the following: * Improved Land: N/A * Unimproved Land: N/A * Cash value of plantation: N/A * Cash value of farm implements/machinery: N/A * Cash value of farm animals: N/A * Number of slaves: N/A * Bushels of corn: N/A * Bales of cotton: N/A The plantations would eventually form the community hub of Chaires. In 2000 the community of Chaires was listed on 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 ...

The owner

Chaires' father was Major Benjamin Chaires who laid out and named the area of

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

in 1822. Chaires is also listed as a voter in First Florida Election of 1845.

References

1845 votersFlorida Historical Markers Program
*Paisley, Clifton; From Cotton To Quail, University of Florida Press, c1968. {{coord missing, Florida Plantations in Leon County, Florida