Fort George Island, the location of the Kingsley Plantation, was granted by the Spanish government to John McQueen in 1791. In 1798, he built a residence that stands today as the oldest plantation house in Florida.

The plantation is named after the island's third occupant, Zephania Kingsley, who moved with his family and 60 slaves to the island in 1814.

Spanish land grants, such as that given to McQueen, were common during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and demonstrate the cultural diversity of Second Spanish Florida.

Kingsley Plantation is one of the few remaining examples of the plantation system of territorial Florida and the site of what may be the oldest plantation house in the state.

Plantation owner Zephaniah Kingsley married a Senegalase woman, Anna Madgigine Jai, whom Kingsley originally purchased as a slave.

Visitors can explore the plantation house, remains of 23 tabby construction slave quarters, a barn, waterfront, kitchen house and interpretive garden.

For more information on Spanish Land Grants, visit the Florida State Archives at www.floridamemory.com/Collections/

SpanishLandGrants