Ring Oak Plantation is a large quail hunting plantation located in northeast Leon County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Origins

Ring Oak originally was the land of

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern US ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum architectu ...

cotton plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...

Blakely Plantation Blakely Plantation was a cotton plantation, forced-labor farm of located in extreme northeast Leon County, Florida, Leon County, Florida. In 1850, the farm included 800 acres worked by 51 enslaved people. Blakely was bounded on the east by Ingle ...

and Ingleside Plantation. Prior to it having a name, this property began as a venture sometimes referred to as the Ireland-Ingalls ownership. This was a joint business/leisure concern between David S. Ingalls and Robert Livingston Ireland, Jr. Ingalls was a director of Pan Am World Airways and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

of Cincinnati Times-Star. Ireland was an executive with M.A. Hanna Company, a coal company. By 1947 Ring Oak was established as a separate plantation and was owned by David S. and Louise Ingalls. Ring Oak had its own private

landing strip In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (grass, dirt, gravel, ic ...

making it possible for David Ingalls, an accomplished pilot, to leave

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

on a Saturday and arrive for the opening of

dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

hunting season. The landing strip is there today. The name Ring Oak refers to a circular cut made around the live oak trees on the plantation and it's suggested that these rings were the work of local Native Americans and forced the tree to die so that

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s could be made. Many trees survived, scabbing over and creating a noticeable ring. Ring Oak Plantation 1967

The Ingalls also made purchases of

Chemonie Plantation Chemonie Plantation was a forced-labor farm of in northern Leon County, Florida, United States, established by Hector Braden. By 1860, 64 enslaved people worked the land, which was primarily used to produce cotton as a cash crop. Location Chem ...

originally owned by George Noble Jones. In 1949, Ingalls and Ireland purchased the

Foshalee Plantation Foshalee Plantation was a large quail hunting plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, Leon County, Florida, United States. History First called Incochee, it was purchased in 1824 by Hezekiah and Ann Graham Ponder. Hezekiah and Ann ar ...

. Under the Ingalls, Ring Oak had a hog parlor with 300 head of hogs. Ring Oak, with Chemonie Plantation, had in corn in patches of .

Location

Ring Oak borders

Lake Miccosukee Lake Miccosukee is a large swampy prairie lake in northern Jefferson County, Florida, located east of the settlement of Miccosukee. A small portion of the lake, its northwest corner, is located in Leon County. The small town of Miccosukee, F ...

on its east side. During its history, boundaries often changed when owners bought or sold land. In 1967 Ring Oak was under sole ownership of Louise Ingalls and had two distinct sections which was not uncommon for plantations in Leon County. Currently Ring Oak is owned by the GEM land company of Tallahassee. Ring Oak's current size is around .Joseph Latimer, former employee, Ring Oak Plantation Adjacent plantations in 1967: * Woodfield Springs Plantation to the north * Loveridge Plantation to the north

References

{{reflist Historic buildings and structures in Leon County, Florida Plantations in Leon County, Florida Cotton plantations in Florida