Gamble Plantation Historic State Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gamble Plantation Historic State Park
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Location	Manatee County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Bradenton, Florida
Coordinates	27°31′34″N 82°31′47″W / 27.52611, -82.52972
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Gamble Plantation Historic State Park is a Florida State Park located in Ellenton, Florida on US 301. It consists of an antebellum mansion that was the home of Major Robert Gamble and 16 acres of the surrounding sugar plantation.

Contents 1 History 2 Recreational Activities 3 References and external links 4 Gallery

[edit] History

The mansion was built by Major Robert Gamble on land granted to him under the terms of the Armed Occupation Act. The back portion of the house was built first, with little attention to aesthetics. Gamble's priority was to get the house built to provide protection from the elements and the possibility of attack by Indians. After quickly completing the back portion, Gamble added on the front section of the mansion, with far more focus on appearance. The columns in the front are an example of the Doric Revivalist Vernacular style, and are constructed (as is much of the house) out of Tabby, which is a mixture of locally available materials including burnt oyster shells (which acts as a sort of mortar, holding the mixture together). During the time that Gamble was at the plantation, he ran up $190,000 in debt, partly due to plummeting sugar prices caused by the availability of cheaper imports. He sold the property to satisfy the debts and moved to north Florida with all of the furniture from the mansion. When he arrived in north Florida, Gamble placed the furniture in a warehouse, which burnt down 13 hours later. Consequently, none of the furniture in the mansion is original, although much of it is from the time period and represents the type of furniture that would have likely been in the house.

After Gamble left, Captain Archibald McNeill, a famous Confederate blockade runner, moved into the mansion. In May of 1865, the Confederate Secretary of State, Judah P. Benjamin took refuge in the home after the fall of the Confederacy. After falling into disrepair in the early 1900s, the house and 16 acres were purchased by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1925 and donated to the State of Florida. The mansion was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on August 12, 1970.

[edit] Recreational Activities

The park offers tours and has picnic tables. The picnic tables are open from 12:00 to 5:00 on Mondays through Thursdays but are closed on Fridays. The visitor center is open from 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Thursday through Monday; it is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

[edit] References and external links

• Manatee County listings at National Register of Historic Places
• Manatee County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
• Gamble Plantation Historic State Park at Florida State Parks
• Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation State Historic Site at Absolutely Florida
• Gamble Plantation Historic State Historic Site at Wildernet

• Gamble Plantation Historic State Park is at coordinates 27°31′34″N 82°31′44″W / 27.526, -82.529 (Gamble Plantation Historic State Park)Coordinates: 27°31′34″N 82°31′44″W / 27.526, -82.529 (Gamble Plantation Historic State Park)

[edit] Gallery

v • d • e Protected Areas of Florida National Park Service Biscayne National Park • Dry Tortugas National Park • Everglades National Park • Castillo de San Marcos National Monument • Fort Matanzas National Monument • Big Cypress National Preserve • Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve • De Soto National Memorial • Fort Caroline National Memorial • Canaveral National Seashore • Gulf Islands National Seashore National Forests Apalachicola • Choctawhatchee • Ocala • Osceola State Parks Amelia Island • Anastasia • Avalon • Bahia Honda • Bald Point • Big Lagoon • Big Talbot Island • Bill Baggs Cape Florida • Bulow Creek • Caladesi Island • Camp Helen • Cayo Costa • Collier-Seminole • Curry Hammock • Delnor-Wiggins Pass • Devil's Millhopper • Don Pedro Island • Eden Gardens • Egmont Key • Falling Waters • Faver-Dykes • Florida Caverns • Fort Clinch • Fort Cooper • Fort George Island • Fort Pierce Inlet • Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou • Gasparilla Island • George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier • Highlands Hammock • Hontoon Island • Hugh Taylor Birch • John D. MacArthur Beach • John Pennekamp Coral Reef • John U. Lloyd Beach • Jonathan Dickinson • Little Talbot Island • Long Key • Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson • Mike Roess Gold Head Branch • Navarre Beach • North Peninsula • O'Leno • Oscar Scherer • Ravine Gardens • River Bluff Picnic Site • Sebastian Inlet • Skyway Fishing Pier • St. George Island • St. Joseph Peninsula • Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center • Stump Pass Beach • Tomoka • Torreya • Windley Key Fossil Reef Botanical Alfred B. Maclay Gardens • Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock • Lignumvitae Key • Washington Oaks State Gardens Lakes, Rivers and Springs Deer Lake • Lake Griffin • Lake June in Winter Scrub • Lake Kissimmee • Lake Louisa • Lake Manatee • Lake Talquin • Alafia River • Blackwater River • Econfina River • Guana River • Hillsborough River • Little Manatee River • Myakka River • Ochlockonee River • Silver River • Suwannee River • Blue Spring • De Leon Springs • Edward Ball Wakulla Springs • Fanning Springs • Homosassa Springs Wildlife • Ichetucknee Springs • Lafayette Blue Springs • Madison Blue Springs • Manatee Springs • Peacock Springs • Rainbow Springs • Troy Springs • Wekiwa Springs • Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Recreation areas Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek • Dead Lakes • Dunns Creek • Gamble Rogers Memorial • Grayton Beach • Henderson Beach • Honeymoon Island • Oleta River • Perdido Key • Ponce de Leon Springs • St. Andrews • Three Rivers Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites Cedar Key Museum • Constitution Convention Museum • Forest Capital Museum • John Gorrie State Museum • Ybor City Museum • The Barnacle • Bulow Plantation Ruins • Dade Battlefield • DeSoto Site • Dudley Farm • Fort Foster • Fort Mose • Fort Zachary Taylor • Gamble Plantation • Indian Key • Koreshan • Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead • Natural Bridge Battlefield • Olustee Battlefield • Orman House • Paynes Creek • San Marcos de Apalache • Yellow Bluff Fort • Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins • Crystal River • Lake Jackson Mounds • Letchworth Mounds • Madira Bickel Mound • Mound Key • San Pedro Underwater Preserves and reserves Anclote Key • Cedar Key Scrub • Charlotte Harbor • Crystal River • Estero Bay • Fakahatchee Strand • Kissimmee Prairie • Lower Wekiva River • Paynes Prairie • Pumpkin Hill Creek • River Rise • Rock Springs Run • San Felasco Hammock • Savannas • Seabranch • St. Lucie Inlet • St. Sebastian River • Tarkiln Bayou • Topsail Hill • Tosohatchee • Waccasassa Bay • Yellow River Marsh Trails Gainesville-Hawthorne • General James A. Van Fleet • Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail • Withlacoochee State Forests Belmore • Big Shoals Public Lands • Blackwater River • Carl Duval Moore • Cary • Cottage Hill • Deep Creek • Etoniah Creek • Four Creeks • Goethe • Holopaw • Jennings • John Bethea • Lake George • Lake Talquin • Lake Wales Ridge • Little-Big Econ • Matanzas • Myakka • Okaloacoochee Slough • Picayune Strand • Pine Log • Point Washington • Ralph E. Simmons Memorial • Ross Prairie • Seminole • Tate's Hell • Tiger Bay • Twin Rivers • Wakulla • Watson Island • Welaka • Withlacoochee Florida Department of Environmental Protection