by Nancy Rhyne

Twenty-eight stories about plantations from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia that are rich in folklore and feelings as well as historical content.

These tales introduce the reader to wealthy Yankees who decided to buy for themselves pieces of our southern paradise.  Around the turn of the twentieth-century nearly all of the Old South plantations were on the market.  Heirs could no longer make millions growing the crops of their forefathers.  Inspired by the perfection of the landscape, the new owners chose to maintain the dignity of the land, leaving legacies of ancient trees, pristine water, magnificent homes, and native wildlife undisturbed.  The properties stand today much as they did in earlier times.

Pillared mansions behind moss draped oaks adjacent to the rivers that emptied into the Atlantic Ocean contained Verandas that faced the rivers to catch the breeze, libraries with first editions of nearly everything worth reading, and ballrooms that hosted parties where each plantation had its
own slave ensemble. Elegant china, crystal and furniture from England decorated the houses. Collections of fine paintings revealed the planters unlimited budget. The likes of these plantations will never be constructed again, for no builder will sacrifice a whole floor just to get twelve-foot ceilings.

Softcover $12.95

ISBN-13: 978-0-87844-093-1/ISBN 0-87844-093-3