Tabby Slave Quarters and Smokehouse Conservation, Ossabaw Island North End Plantation, Chatham County, Georgia

Fore, George

From introduction: "The study and conservation program for the four tabby buildings at the North End Plantation is part of an ongoing effort to preserve these rare, valuable structures, and to interpret their architecture and cultural significance. The studies have included chemical and petrographic evaluation of historic materials, architectural investigations of altered details, forensic analysis of secondary evidence for lost elements, and structural evaluation of building construction. The products of the study take several forms, and serve several purposes. One is a statement of the preservation and conservation requirements of the buildings and site. Another is the implementation of a conservation program to protect original elements, and to interpret the cultural history of each structure by recreating missing elements. The two components of the study include a record of the investigations, still ongoing, of each structure, presented in four sections, one for each structure. The second component of the study is a description, in detail, of the processes involved in the conservation of the structures. To date, the conservation of Slave Quarter #2 has been the focus of the studies. While the other three tabby buildings are as challenging, Quarter #2 is the most intact, and retains the greatest range of historic materials. The three surviving slave quarters on the North End Plantation were once part of a longer row of quarters. Upon first viewing it appears that the three tabby structures are nearly identical, and repetitive in construction. A closer look at the details reveals that each contains unique features, and that only the first and third quarters are similar in plan. The center quarter, #2, has window, interior partition and built-in cabinet storage unique to the North End Plantation, and distinctive for all Southern plantations. The three slave quarters were constructed with similar plans. Quarters #1 and #3 were double houses, each side separate and containing a single room. The center quarter, #2, was constructed with the same tabby wall plan, but had a connecting door through the center wall. Both rooms inQuarter #2 were further divided by a north-south plank partition, producing a quarter with four rooms. This plan is a departure from other plantation quarters that have been reviewed. At present, it is not known if #2 served as a quarter with divided sleeping areas, or if it served as housing for an overseer, or other purposes that can only be speculated upon. The three quarters are the surviving structures in a longer row; other sites can readily be found by repeating the spacing of the quarters. Going east, there are at least three additional shell and debris deposit areas that correspond to the spacing." Project funding was provided in part by a 2003 Save America's Treasures grant to the Ossabaw Island Foundation (grant number 13-03-ML-1366) administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The Federal Save America's Treasures (SAT) grants program began in 1999 and helps preserve nationally significant historic properties and collections that convey our nation's rich heritage to future generations of Americans. Since 1999, there have been almost 4,000 requests for funding totaling $1.54 billion. In response to these requests, $315,152,000 was awarded to 1,287 recipients. Grants were awarded to Federal, state, local, and tribal government entities, as well as non-profit organizations through a competitive matching-grant program.

Tabby Slave Quarters and Smokehouse Conservation, Ossabaw Island North End Plantation, Chatham County, Georgia

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