Living on the Georgia coast, we hear a lot about “tabby” and we know it doesn’t only refer to a kind of cat. The crushed oyster shell, lime, and sand mixture was widely used here as type of cement in Colonial times. Tabby structures still exist on St. Simons Island today in ruins and in preserved structures like the tabby slave cabins of Hamilton Plantation located at Gascoigne Bluff.
Of the several tabby slave cabins that were originally built on Hamilton plantation, only two remain. According to information from the Cassina Garden Club, the cabins were divided in the center by a fireplace, creating two rooms that housed two families. The fact that the cabins had glass windows and wooden outside doors indicate that they probably housed the more privileged slaves in the household.
The Cassina Garden Club began using the tabby cabins in 1932 for their meetings and were deeded the property in 1950. Since that time, they have carefully restored and preserved the integrity of the cabins. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior in 1988. Archeologically, the grounds of the cabins are undisturbed and offer the potential of former middens, providing untold quantities of artifacts, the keys of life of earlier days. Artifacts and graphical histories of the cabins and the plantation are on display in the cabins.
Last year, Cassina Garden Club announced their “Cabin Fever” capital campaign to fund a
restoration project to save and continue the preservation of the tabby cabins. Centuries of weather and wear have necessitated a major restoration of the cabins from roof to flooring. The restoration is being completed to strict historical preservation standards and is expensive. The current projections for the most critical and immediate restoration needs are $400,000. Unable to raise this type of funds through internal efforts, the Club has turned to the community for support. To date, the club has received a number of generous donations from the community’s foundations, organizations, individuals and businesses totaling over $120,000 of the $400,000 needed: an auspicious start. Donors include: The Golden Isles Archaeological Society, The DeLong Sweet Family Foundation, The Eugenia Price/Joyce Blackburn Foundation, The Friends of Coastal Georgia History and The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Tidewater Preservation, Inc. began work last spring, removing stucco and is continuing the painstaking process of returning the cabins to historically accurate standards.
On March 27-29, Cassina Garden Club will hold a “Cabin Fever Weekend” in their ongoing
Joe McGill
fundraising for “Cabin Fever.” The highlight of that weekend is the “Cabin Sleepover” with Joe McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project and a descendant of slaves. Mr. McGill has made it his purpose to bring a spotlight to former slave dwellings, which he considers to be sacred places, so that they and the people who lived in them will not be lost and forgotten forever. He has slept in more than 60 of these structures and it is his goal to sleep in every former slave dwelling in the United States. Mr. McGill will also participate in a number of educational and cultural events on the island to raise awareness of the slave cabins, his foundation, and the Cassina Garden Club’s capital campaign to restore the cabins.
On Friday, March 27, Mr. McGill will visit and speak to students at Glynn County elementary and middle schools. That evening, hear a presentation by Mr. McGill at an Opening Night Reception and Dinner at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center that will also feature a silent auction. Tickets are $100/person for the cocktail reception and 3-course seated dinner.
Join Mr. McGill on Saturday, March 28, as he and a tour guide provide commentary while you tour African-American heritage sites on St. Simons Island on a Lighthouse Trolley. Tickets $30/person. Later ChefFarmer Matthew Raiford prepares a Riverside Low Country dinner at the cabin grounds with a menu featuring recipes from Cassina’s Coastal Cookery cookbook, dating from 1937. Tickets $50/Adult, $15/Children under 12. Following dinner, join Mr. McGill for fireside conversation and take part in the Cabin Sleepover. $100/Person (inside the cabins), $25/Person camping on the grounds.
Sunday morning, March 29, there will be a Riverside daybreak service followed by coffee and refreshments to close the weekend.
To learn more about the capital campaign and how take part in Cabin Fever Weekend, visit cassinagardenclub.org.
Mr. McGill has made it his purpose to bring a spotlight to former slave dwellings, which he considers to be sacred places, so that they and the people who lived in them will not be lost and forgotten forever. He has slept in more than 60 of these structures and it is his goal to sleep in every former slave dwelling in the United States. Mr. McGill will also participate in a number of educational and cultural events on the island to raise awareness of the slave cabins, his foundation, and the Cassina Garden Club’s capital campaign to restore the cabins.
On Friday, March 27, Mr. McGill will visit and speak to students at Glynn County elementary and middle schools. That evening, hear a presentation by Mr. McGill at an Opening Night Reception and Dinner at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center that will also feature a silent auction. Tickets are $100/person for the cocktail reception and 3-course seated dinner.
Join Mr. McGill on Saturday, March 28, as he and a tour guide provide commentary while you tour African-American heritage sites on St. Simons Island on a Lighthouse Trolley. Tickets $30/person. Later ChefFarmer Matthew Raiford prepares a Riverside Low Country dinner at the cabin grounds with a menu featuring recipes from Cassina’s Coastal Cookery cookbook, dating from 1937. Tickets $50/Adult, $15/Children under 12. Following dinner, join Mr. McGill for fireside conversation and take part in the Cabin Sleepover. $100/Person (inside the cabins), $25/Person camping on the grounds.
Sunday morning, March 29, there will be a Riverside daybreak service followed by coffee and refreshments to close the weekend.
To learn more about the capital campaign and how take part in Cabin Fever Weekend, visit cassinagardenclub.org.
