Orton Plantation facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Orton Plantation
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Orton House
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 Location in North Carolina
Location in the United States
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| Location | 9149 Orton Rd SE, Winnabow, North Carolina |
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| Area | 12 acres (4.9 ha) |
| Built | 1735 |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001294 |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 1973 |
The Orton Plantation is a very old and important house in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. It sits next to the Cape Fear River, between Wilmington and Southport. Many people think Orton Plantation is a great example of Southern architecture from before the Civil War.
Colonel Maurice Moore, who helped start Brunswick Town, built the Orton Plantation house in 1735. This makes it one of the oldest buildings in Brunswick County. Over the years, Orton Plantation has seen a lot of history. It was attacked by Native Americans, used as a military hospital, and was home to many interesting people, including lawyers, doctors, military leaders, and even a governor from the Colonial times.
On April 11, 1973, Orton Plantation was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a special place worth protecting. The beautiful Orton Plantation Gardens and a family chapel were open to visitors until 2010. That year, the plantation was sold to Louis Moore Bacon, who is a direct descendant of the original builder.
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A Look Back: Orton Plantation's Story
In 1725, Roger Moore and his family moved from South Carolina to an area in southeastern North Carolina called Orton. Roger was the son of Governor James Moore. His brother, Colonel Maurice Moore, owned the land at Orton. Maurice sold the land to Roger when he moved there. Together, Roger and Maurice helped create Brunswick Town, which was about a mile south of Orton.
Roger built his first home in 1725, but local Native Americans later destroyed it. Roger then built the current Orton Plantation house in 1735. He developed his land into a large rice plantation. Hundreds of enslaved people were forced to work there without pay.
The Moore family owned Orton for many years. Later, Benjamin Smith bought it. He eventually lost the property, and it was sold at an auction. A doctor named Frederick Jones Hill bought the property in 1826. During the American Civil War, after the Confederate soldiers lost at Fort Fisher, Union soldiers took over Orton Plantation. They used the house as a military hospital. This actually saved the house from being destroyed during the war. After the war, Orton Plantation was left empty for 19 years.
In 1884, a former Confederate military officer named Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison bought Orton Plantation. He worked hard to make the plantation look like it did originally. He used it as his winter home. After Murchison passed away in 1904, his daughter Luola and her husband, James Sprunt, bought Orton Plantation. James was a lawyer. He encouraged Luola to update the house. In 1910, they started creating a beautiful flower garden and making the house bigger.
The Sprunts built a family chapel in 1915. When Luola passed away the next year from scarlet fever, James named the building Luola's Chapel to honor her. Around the same time, their son, James Laurence Sprunt, also lost his first wife, Amoret Cameron Price, while she was giving birth to their son.
In the 1930s, James Laurence Sprunt and his second wife, Annie, made the garden even larger. It grew to be about 20 acres (8.1 ha) in size. Some of the garden's design was done by Robert Sturtevant. One day, a relative was in a car accident. The Sprunts decided to open their garden to the public to help raise money for medical bills. They charged 25 cents for entry and raised $1,000 in just one week! After that, the Sprunts decided to keep the garden open for everyone to enjoy.
In 1954, the Sprunt family gave 114.5 acres (46.3 ha) of Orton Plantation land to create the Brunswick Town State Historic Site. Four years later, James Laurence Sprunt wrote a book about Orton Plantation's history called The Story of Orton Plantation. The Sprunt family owned Orton Plantation for 126 years, passing it down through generations.
Before 2010, Orton Plantation was a popular place for tourists. The gardens and chapel were open to the public. The old rice fields became a wildlife sanctuary, a safe place for animals. It was also a great spot for birdwatchers. Many events like weddings, family reunions, and school field trips happened there.
In May 2010, the Laurence Sprunt family sold Orton Plantation for $45 million to Louis Moore Bacon. He is a direct descendant of Roger Moore, who built the first Orton home. Since Mr. Bacon bought it, the plantation and its grounds have been closed to the public.
Mr. Bacon reportedly plans to fix up the house and improve the grounds. He has spent a lot of money on restoring the property and doing research. In 2012, 4000 acres of forest were burned as part of the project. He also wanted to grow rice on the land again by 2014, which hadn't happened since 1931. Because the fields are wetlands, he needed a special permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Bacon also wanted the rice fields to be included in the National Registry. He hoped the plantation would become a National Historic Landmark.
Orton Plantation's Design and Gardens
The Orton Plantation house is a beautiful example of Classical Revival and Greek Revival architecture. When it was first built, it was a 1 and a half-story white brick building. In 1840, a second floor was added. Four tall, fluted Doric columns were also added to the front. In 1904, two more sections were added to the sides of the house. There is a brick chimney on each side of the original part of the home.
Luola's Chapel is also a white brick building with four Doric columns, similar to the main house. The chapel is surrounded by gardens and has a small steeple on top. There is also a pavilion located near the chapel.
The Orton Plantation Gardens cover about 20 acres (81,000 m2) of lawns and formal gardens. There are also 60 acres (24 ha) of fountains, statues, forests, lagoons, old rice fields, and a family cemetery. The garden has brick paths lined with trees. You can see rows of beautiful flowers and plants like camellias, dogwoods, magnolias, crape-myrtles, and many other annuals and perennials. The main gates of the property have cement eagles on top. These gates lead to a dirt driveway lined with huge oak trees. These trees, covered in Spanish moss, were planted way back in the 1700s!
See also
