Gamble Plantation
Ellenton, Florida
Gamble mansion decorated for Open House December 10, 2017. |
Gamble Plantation Historic State Park is a former sugar plantation which now serves as headquarters for the Florida Division UDC. Our Chapter members volunteer annually for its winter open house, serving as decorators, docents, and helpers to ensure everything runs smoothly. It's the only surviving antebellum structure in southern Florida and was built between 1845 and 1850 by Major Robert Gamble, Jr. After the War Between the States, it fell into disrepair until the UDC purchased the property in 1925 and donated it to the state of Florida as a memorial to Judah P. Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin was a lawyer by trade and served as Secretary of State for the Confederate States of America under President Jefferson Davis. In May 1865, he stayed in the home to escape Union soldiers before sailing to England. |