Myrtle Grove Plantation, Georgia Explained

Myrtle Grove Plantation
Former Names:Folly Farm
Location:Richmond Hill, Georgia, U.S.
Address:Old Hardwick Road
Coordinates:31.8843°N -81.2454°W
Completion Date: (plantation house only)
Owner:Buck Meeks
John Meeks
Floor Count:2
Map Dot Label:Myrtle Plantation
Architectural Style:Antebellum architecture
Mapframe:yes

Myrtle Grove is a historic plantation in Richmond Hill, Bryan County, Georgia, United States.

American Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene was gifted a "Myrtle Grove plantation near Savannah from the citizens of Georgia" for his services as major general of the Continental Army.[1]

The plantation house was built in 1849, in the antebellum style, by Union Army brigadier general Richard Arnold as wedding gift for his daughter.

During the 1920s and 1930, the house was owned by Pennsylvania native and district attorney Samuel Pennington Rotan.[2] After his death in January 1930, his widow, Allethaire Chase Rotan, continued to live there. The house was renamed Folly Farm by the Rotans, after their former residence in Abington, Pennsylvania,[3] but was later returned to its original Myrtle Grove name after the property on which the house stands.[4]

It has been owned since 1964 by brothers Walter (Buck)[5] and John Meeks,[6] and has been used as a filming location for over ten movie and television productions, including Glory (1989), The Underground Railroad (2021), Emperor (2020) and The Crickets Dance (2020).[7] [8] It was its appearance in Birth of a Nation (2016) that increased its popularity, however.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hoffman, Charles and Tess . North by South: The Two Lives of Richard James Arnold . . 2009 . 9780820334431 . 6.
  2. Book: Sullivan, Buddy . Richmond Hill . . 2006 . 9780738543031 . 52.
  3. Book: Herman, Andrew Mark . Eastern Montgomery County Postcards . . 1999 . 9780738501901 . 38.
  4. Web site: Meet Buck Meeks, a man who charts his own course . 2022-07-09 . www.bryancountynews.com.
  5. Web site: Obituary for Walter Watson Meeks at Carter Funeral Home Bryan Chapel . 2022-07-09 . www.carterbryanchapel.com . en.
  6. Web site: GSIA . 2017-04-10 . Filming in and around Bryan County fuels local economy . 2022-07-09 . GSIA . en.
  7. Web site: Bryan, Chatham county health departments to begin COVID-19 vaccination for infants and young children . 2022-07-09 . www.bryancountynews.com.
  8. Web site: Myrtle Grove . 2022-07-09 . Film Savannah . en-US.
  9. Web site: Jordan . Kyle . Richmond Hill: Coming Soon to a screen near you . 2022-07-09 . WTOC11 . en.