{"nrhp_refnum":"73000626","name":"Woodmanston Site","other_names":["Le Conte Plantation"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"SW of Riceboro off Barrington Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Riceboro","county":"Liberty County","state":"GA","lat":31.69895770650004,"lon":-81.47240751445429,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-06-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Engineering","Education","Social History","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Site of the LeConte family's Woodmanston rice plantation and botanical garden, about four miles southwest of Riceboro in Liberty and McIntosh Counties, Georgia. Rice cultivation began by about 1770, and the garden was developed after 1810.","why_significant":"The site is tied to the LeConte family, who began a rice venture in a swamp and later turned the plantation into a scientific center. Louis LeConte's botanical garden and chemical laboratory became well known in the United States and Europe. His sons Joseph and John went on to scientific careers and helped shape the University of California. The site also retains traces of the rice-growing waterworks and may hold archaeological evidence of the house and stockade.","narrative":"Woodmanston was a coastal Georgia rice plantation southwest of Riceboro, begun by John Eatton LeConte, Sr., who by 1770 chose a low, wet inland tract for growing rice. A dam and dike held back water from the swamp to flood the fields. The first house was burned by British troops in 1779, and a later house was fortified with a stockade against raids. In 1810 his son Louis LeConte settled there permanently, ran the plantation, kept a chemical laboratory and created a botanical and floral garden famous for its camellias and bulbs. His sons Joseph and John later became prominent scientists and educators. After Louis died in 1838 the plantation declined. Today the site is mostly traces of waterways, a lone camellia, two palms and some old trees under dense growth. A 1972 archaeological survey found evidence of a wall trench, brick foundations and china from the house period, so the site is valued mainly for its archaeological potential.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries; specific dates 1779, 1789, 1810","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Ruins, altered, original site. Much of the plantation has been clear-cut and planted in pine. Only a lone camellia, two palms, and a few trees remain from the garden. Archaeological evidence survives beneath heavy vegetation.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.811384-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/73000626.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000626/a121d5432d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000626/a121d5432d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ebyabe","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GA_Leconte-Woodmanston_marker02.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ebyabe</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GA_Leconte-Woodmanston_marker02.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208803","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodmanston_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38251830"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/liberty-county/woodmanston-site-73000626/"}