Wormsloe Historic Site

1736

Noble Jones asked for 500 acres on the Isle of Hope in 1736

Noble Jones, a physician and carpenter from Lambeth, England, reached Savannah with the first colonists in 1733. In 1736 he applied for a lease of 500 acres on the south side of the Isle of Hope. The Trustees did not approve it until 1745. His fortified house of wood and tabby, with 8-foot walls and a bastion at each corner, overlooked the Skidaway Narrows.

Silk

Jones planted mulberry trees for silk, and the trial failed

The Georgia Trustees encouraged the production of silk, and Jones planted many mulberry trees. The experiment was unsuccessful, as were his first tries with fruit trees and indigo. Wormsloe never proved profitable. Jones bought land, worked as a surveyor, and served as judge, militia captain and colonial legislator. He acquired over 5,500 acres and five town lots in the Savannah area.

A house divided

A loyal father and a Patriot son shared the same estate

Noble Jones died in 1775. He had been a loyal supporter of King George III all his life, which often brought him into conflict with his son, Noble Wimberly Jones, an ardent supporter of Patriot causes. In 1768 the son led the Georgia Commons House in rejecting the Townshend Acts. In 1776 he took part in a mission that seized a large supply of gunpowder from the provincial powder magazine.

The oaks

An avenue of over 400 oaks was planted after 1893

Wymberley Jones De Renne returned to Wormsloe in 1893. While he lived there he expanded the gardens, planted a new oak avenue lined with over 400 oak trees, and built the De Renne Georgia Library. The State of Georgia acquired most of the plantation in 1973 and opened it to the public in 1979. Descendants of Noble Jones still keep the family house and 50 acres around it.

1.5 milesof dirt road lined with southern live oaks

Enslaved labor

More than 350 enslaved people worked at Wormsloe and its land

Georgia's original charter banned the owning of enslaved people. The Trustees revoked the ban in 1749, and Jones then bought enslaved people. Until the Civil War the family had more than 350 enslaved people working at Wormsloe and its other holdings. In the 1850s eight frame slave houses were built in a double row. In 1929 the one cabin left was refurbished and shown to tourists.

350+enslaved people held by the family until the Civil War