Orchard Pond Plantation

Orchard Pond Plantation is a historic agricultural estate in northwestern Leon County, Florida, between Lake Jackson and the Ochlockonee River. It was developed during the nineteenth century by Richard Keith Call, a lawyer, planter, land promoter, and twice-appointed governor of the Florida Territory. The plantation originally covered approximately 8,754 acres and was principally associated with cotton production. Its agricultural system depended on the forced labor of enslaved people; the 1860 agricultural census recorded 118 enslaved workers at the property. The estate therefore forms part of the history of slavery, plantation agriculture, land speculation, and political power in antebellum Florida. In 1860, the plantation included about 1,300 acres of improved land and 2,544 acres of unimproved land. Census figures recorded the production of 4,500 bushels of corn and 167 bales of cotton, together with farm animals and agricultural equipment. The recorded cash value of the plantation was $31,000. These figures describe the estate at a particular moment and should not be treated as a current valuation. Call was reported as one of Leon County’s largest slaveholders and owned another major property in the county, The Grove, in Tallahassee. His agricultural interests later expanded beyond cotton to experiments involving Florida hemp and improvements in livestock breeding and management. The boundaries of the original plantation are not precisely documented in the available reference material. Orchard Pond lay in the Red Hills landscape west of Tallahassee, and the rural route historically known as Orchard Pond Road crossed the property from east to west. In 2016, that dirt road was replaced by the Orchard Pond Parkway, changing access through the area while retaining the historic name. Ownership passed through several generations and families. Call transferred The Grove to his daughter, while Orchard Pond remained associated with his descendants into the twentieth century. Ellen Call Long held the property until 1903, when her granddaughter Reinette Long Hunt acquired Orchard Pond and The Grove. Hunt later sold Orchard Pond to Dr. Tennent Ronalds, an obstetrician and sportsman who developed the estate’s quail-hunting potential. The property was subsequently purchased by John H. Phipps and later connected with the residences and land interests of Colin Phipps and his grandson John E. Phipps. The estate was eventually reduced to approximately 2,644 acres. It is currently identified with Ayavalla Land Company and is described as containing significant wetland diversity within the Red Hills Region, including flowing streams, isolated lakes, river floodplain, and swampland. The site is better understood as a historic landholding and conservation-oriented rural property than as a contemporary consumer brand. Its historical significance derives from its association with Call, antebellum plantation agriculture, enslavement, changing land ownership, quail management, and the ecological character of the Red Hills.

Orchard Pond Plantation emerged from the nineteenth-century expansion of plantation agriculture in the Red Hills region of northern Florida. Richard Keith Call, a Tennessee-born lawyer and land promoter who became closely associated with Andrew Jackson and Florida territorial politics, developed the property in what is now northwestern Leon County. Call accumulated land through activities connected with the territorial land office and promoted settlement and investment in Leon County. Orchard Pond was one of two substantial plantations he held in the county; the other was The Grove in Tallahassee. The plantation was initially a large cotton-oriented agricultural holding of roughly 8,754 acres. Its production system relied on enslaved labor. The 1860 agricultural census listed 118 enslaved people at Orchard Pond, along with 1,300 acres of improved land and 2,544 acres of unimproved land. The same record listed 4,500 bushels of corn and 167 bales of cotton. These records illustrate both the scale of the estate and the economic importance of coerced labor to its operation. They also place Call among the largest slaveholders in Leon County at the time. The plantation’s historical interpretation must therefore include the experiences and exploitation of the enslaved community, not only the biography of its owner or the estate’s agricultural output. Call’s public career included two appointments as governor of the Florida Territory, first from 1836 to 1839 and later after a change in political affiliation and presidential administration. His agricultural interests were not limited to cotton. The reference material associates him with experiments involving Florida hemp and with efforts to improve livestock. Over time, Orchard Pond was reduced in size from its original extent to approximately 2,644 acres. Call transferred The Grove to his daughter, while Orchard Pond remained within the family’s broader property interests. Ellen Call Long retained the property until 1903. In that year her granddaughter, Reinette Long Hunt, acquired Orchard Pond along with The Grove. Hunt subsequently sold Orchard Pond to Dr. Tennent Ronalds, an obstetrician and avid sportsman. Ronalds developed the estate as a quail-hunting property, reflecting the transition of some former agricultural estates toward sporting, recreational, and land-management uses. The property later came into the ownership of John H. Phipps. After his death, the estate became associated with the homes and land interests of Colin Phipps and his grandson John E. Phipps; the reference material identifies 2,100 acres on Ox Bottom Road as having been given to John E. Phipps. The available sources do not provide a complete chronology of every transfer, subdivision, or modern management arrangement. Orchard Pond is situated between Lake Jackson and the Ochlockonee River. Its precise historic boundaries are not available in the cited material, but the estate’s landscape is described as including streams, isolated lakes, river floodplain, and swamps. These wetlands are considered among the diverse environments of the Red Hills Region. Orchard Pond Road historically crossed the property from east to west. In 2016, it was replaced by the Orchard Pond Parkway, linking the historic estate name to a modern regional transportation project. The property is currently identified as being owned by Ayavalla Land Company. In its present context, Orchard Pond is best regarded as a historic rural estate and ecologically significant tract rather than a consumer-facing plantation brand. Its legacy combines antebellum slavery and cotton production, territorial-era land politics, intergenerational ownership, sporting use, transportation development, and wetland conservation.

• 2016

  Orchard Pond Parkway replaces Orchard Pond Road

  [1]Orchard Pond Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The historic rural dirt road crossing the property was replaced by the Orchard Pond Parkway.

• 1903

  Reinette Long Hunt acquires Orchard Pond

  [1]Orchard Pond Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Reinette Long Hunt purchased Orchard Pond and The Grove from the family estate connected with Ellen Call Long.

• 1860

  Agricultural census records the plantation

  [1]Orchard Pond Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The Leon County agricultural census recorded 1,300 acres of improved land, 2,544 acres of unimproved land, 118 enslaved people, 4,500 bushels of corn, and 167 bales of cotton at Orchard Pond.

• 1836

  Call begins his first term as territorial governor

  [1]Orchard Pond Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Richard Keith Call began his first term as governor of the Florida Territory while associated with major landholdings including Orchard Pond.

A historic Florida plantation estate and Red Hills landholding, now associated with wetland-rich rural land and conservation-oriented property management rather than a conventional commercial brand.

• Agricultural commodity

  Cotton

  Cotton was the plantation’s principal historical cash crop. The 1860 agricultural census recorded 167 bales, linking the estate to the cotton economy of antebellum Florida and to an agricultural system operated through enslaved labor.

• Agricultural commodity

  Corn

  Corn was produced alongside cotton and served as an important agricultural output of the estate. The 1860 census recorded 4,500 bushels, although the available material does not distinguish how much was consumed locally, used to support livestock, or sold.

• Agricultural experiment

  Florida hemp

  Richard Keith Call later pursued agricultural experiments involving Florida hemp. The available reference identifies this as an area of experimentation but does not provide production volumes, commercial results, or a detailed chronology.

• Sporting-land management

  Quail-hunting operation

  Under Dr. Tennent Ronalds, the estate was developed for quail hunting. This represented a later sporting use of the property rather than a conventional manufactured product or retail offering.

• 2016

  Orchard Pond Parkway replaced Orchard Pond Road[1]Orchard Pond Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The rural dirt road crossing the historic plantation landscape was replaced by the Orchard Pond Parkway, providing a modern transportation route through the area while preserving the Orchard Pond name.

1. 1Orchard Pond Plantationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2From Cotton to Quailbooks.google.com