Plum Orchard: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Cumberland Island National Seashore, National Park Service

Bradford, Laura

The Plum Orchard Historic District landscape is a historic designed landscape that lies along the Brickhill River on the western edge of Cumberland Island, approximately seven miles north of Dungeness. The boundary of the Plum Orchard Historic District encloses approximately 60 acres, all of which are west of the Main Road. Cumberland Island National Seashore (CUIS), a unit of the National Park Service (NPS), lies off the mainland coast of southeastern Georgia between St. Andrew Sound and Cumberland Sound. The barrier island measures approximately eighteen miles north to south and only approximately three miles wide at its widest point. Cumberland Island has been occupied for more than 4,000 years, and the natural setting then, as it is now, consists of flat, low-land topography, typical of coastal regions and barrier islands. In addition to NPS fee simple properties within the historic district, there are two reserved life estate properties located immediately north of the mansion. The historic district is surrounded by Potential and Designated Wilderness, and is accessible by vehicle and boat. The Plum Orchard historic landscape was a nineteenth-century plantation that transformed in 1898, to a grand Carnegie-family estate, typical of those built by wealthy industrialists on the Sea Islands during that time. During the period of significance, the Plum Orchard Mansion was surrounded by a picturesque Country Place Era landscape that included a winding entrance drive, a lawn interspersed with native trees, a reflective water feature, vegetable and cut flower gardens, and support structures laid out around a circular road. Plum Orchard was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of the Multiple Resource Nomination for Cumberland Island. The period of significance begins in 1898 with the construction of the carriage house and mansion and ends in 1917 when the last support structures were completed. The landscape characteristics at the Plum Orchard Historic District that convey historic significance are spatial organization, vegetation, topography, buildings and structures, circulation, views and vistas, small-scale features, and archeological resources. The site retains integrity of location, workmanship, and materials, while the integrity of design, setting, feeling, and association have been compromised due to the loss of key features and the bifurcation of the district because of the life estates. The landscape is in fair condition due to the preservation of contributing features and characteristics; however, deferred maintenance, erosion, and a lack of interpretation impact the site. The Plum Orchard Historic District is significant in the areas of social history under Criterion A, significant persons under Criterion B, architecture under Criterion C, and archeology under Criterion D. At the time of the National Register nomination, the district included seventeen structures, a small cemetery, ruins of an antebellum house, and three archeological sites.

Plum Orchard: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Cumberland Island National Seashore, National Park Service

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