Morgan Farm, also known as Nathan Morgan Home Place, is a historic rural
farmstead
A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...
near Smithville in Sumter County, Georgia, U.S.. It was founded by Nathan Morgan, an African-American farmer, and represents the rare ascendence from slavery to property ownership. It has been named a Centennial Farm by the state of Georgia in 1995; and it was listed by the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
, since February 26, 1998, for its contribution to African American heritage and agriculture. With
History
The Morgan Farm was founded in 1886 by African-American Nathan Morgan (1849–1917), with the main farmhouse built a few years later in . Formerly enslaved, Morgan purchased in 1886, where he farmed and raised his own family of nine children.
The property consists of historic farmhouse, with a central hall and a room on each side; six historic outbuildings; cultivated land; pastures; a
well
A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
; a non-historic ranch house; a shed; and a
carport
A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from rain and snow. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures, a carport does not have four walls, and u ...
. The late-19th century
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture (also folk architecture) is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. It is not a particular architectural movement or style but rather a broad category, encompassing a wide range a ...
-style can be seen on the property in the
smokehouse
A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is curing (food preservation), cured with Smoking (cooking), smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.hog pen, mule barn,
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 ...
, and the hen house.
In 1998, the property was still owned by the Morgan family.
Koinonia Partners
Koinonia Farm is a Christian farming intentional community founded in 1942 in Sumter County, Georgia, US.
History
The farm was founded in 1942 by two couples, Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England, as a "demonstration plot ...