Tall Timbers Plantation

About this property

Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy is a research and learning facility located in northern Leon County, Florida, just off County Road 12 on the north side of Lake Iamonia. Tall Timbers researches the areas of fire ecology, resource management, forestry, game bird management, and vertebrate ecology. Edward Beadel was a wealthy architect from New York City who went south each winter. He was also an avid hunter who lodged at the Piney Woods Hotel in Thomasville, Georgia. The hotel was constructed circa 1885 but burned to the ground in 1906. "Beadel would often cross the Florida border to hunt on the property of Charlie Davis. Beadel was so impressed with Leon County that in 1895 he purchased 2,200-acres (890 ha) of land along the north shore of Lake Iamonia for $8000 (~$261,417 in 2024). At that time he also designed and built a $3000 vernacular colonial revival home where a plantation house had once stood. He renamed the property Tall Timbers Plantation. The home had its own water tower, boat house, and other outbuildings. Edward Beadel died in 1919 and the property passed to his nephew, Henry Ludlow Beadel. Henry was a philanthropist and naturalist who had been hunting in Leon County since 1894. An additional 600-acres was added to the plantation. Two years later, a single story, five-bay wing was constructed east of the main house, connected by an 86-foot porch. Additional bedroom space was created by adding three dormers to the front of the main house. Henry lived in the east wing from 1921 until his death in 1963 and the interior remains unchanged. Field hunting was accomplished via horse-drawn carriage. For duck hunting, Henry used a handmade tin boat of between 8 and 9 feet in length. Tall Timbers also had a number of canoes. By this time, the house had a huge stone fireplace and rustic furniture fit for a lodge. The exterior had a sweeping porch facing the lake. Beadel was one of several plantation owners who sponsored a 1924 scientific inquiry into local quail population declines. This was the first study that grew into the research station. Henry Beadel's will left the plantation for use as a nature preserve for wildlife research. The Tall Timbers Inc was established in 1958 and incorporated May 24, 1960. The interior of the main house was modified for use as offices of the Research Station. In 2014 the Conservancy announced the donation of the 9,100-acre Dixie Plantation from the Geraldine C. M. Livingston Foundation. The Oak Hill Plantation placed a conservation easement on almost one thousand acres through the conservancy. As of 2018, the organization held in excess of 125,000 acres of conservation easements in Georgia and Florida, the area's biggest private land trust. That total rose to 158,000 acres in 2020.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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