The Historic Haile Homestead, also known as Haile Plantation House or Kanapaha, is a historic site and museum in Gainesville,

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, a ...

, United States. It is located at 8500 SW Archer Rd. SR 24. On May 2, 1986, the

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

was added to the U.S.

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 artist ...

.The Homestead is unique in the Nation for its "Talking Walls." For a reason lost to time the Haile family and friends wrote over 12,500 words on the walls, dating back to the 1850s.

History

In 1854 Thomas Evans Haile, his wife, Esther "Serena" Chesnut Haile, moved from Camden, South Carolina to Alachua County, Florida. There they established a 1,500-acre Sea Island cotton plantation called ''Kanapaha'', meaning "small thatched houses"."History", Historic Haile Homestead
/ref> The Hailes survived bankruptcy in 1868 and turned the property into a productive farm, growing a variety of fruits and vegetables, including oranges. Evans Haile became the owner of the land but lived in town, and after 1900 the home sat vacant for decades.

Architecture

Officially known as Historic Haile Homestead at Kanapaha Plantation, the house was built for Thomas Evans and Serena Chesnut Haile in 1856 as part of their original

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. Th ...

. The Hailes brought with them from South Carolina fifty-six slaves who lived in small one-room frame houses for the slaves. Billy Watts was a skilled carpenter who supervised most of the homestead construction. Henry Gaines, a stonemason from the Stringfellow plantation, was responsible for building the fireplaces, chimneys and support piers on the plantation. Johnson Chestnut was a gifted carpenter and furniture maker. Four-foot-tall piers of mortared limerock support a foundation of 100-foot-long beams. The house is constructed of pine with cypress siding. The house is noted for its "Talking Walls" - over 12,500 writings on its walls by members of the family and friends dating back to the 1850s. In the late 1980s, the Haile family partnered with the Alachua Conservation Trust to restore the house. Projects include replacing the structure's current shake-shingle roof."Historic Haile Homestead", Alachua Conservation Trust
/ref> The museum is open for tours on weekends: Saturdays, 10 am to 2 pm and Sundays, 12 pm to 4 pm. The Allen & Ethel Graham Visitors Center and Museum was opened in 2017 and provides additional background and exhibits about the Haile family and the enslaved laborers. File:Gainesville Kanapaha01.jpg, Haile Homestead File:Gainesville Kanapaha02.jpg, Another view

References

External links

Historic Haile Homestead at Kanapaha Plantation
- official website

* ttp://www.flheritage.com/facts/reports/places/Counties/Alachua.cfm Alachua County listings Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
Historic Haile Homestead at Kanapaha Plantation at Historic Homes of Greater Gainesville
{{Greater Gainesville Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida National Register of Historic Places in Gainesville, Florida Historic house museums in Florida Museums in Gainesville, Florida Plantation houses in Florida Houses in Alachua County, Florida 1856 establishments in Florida