Teel-Crawford-Gaston Plantation
Why it's listed
Near Americus in Sumter County, Georgia, this roughly 850-acre farm grew from a plantation founded by John Teel, who bought the land in 1836 and built a one-story Greek Revival house by about 1840. Enslaved people felled the timber and burned the brick on site. The Crawford family bought the property in 1852 and, after the Civil War, shifted it from slave labor to tenant farming. Robert B. Gaston bought it in 1918 and built most of the surviving outbuildings, including barns, a chicken house, a pump house and a tenant cook's house. The house has a center-hall plan, four fireplaces, molded mantels, and a transom and sidelights at the entrance. Formal plantings in the front yard are set apart from the working landscape. The unmarked slave cemetery and the brickyard site are rare survivals. The farm is still worked by the Gaston family, and its period of significance runs to 1954.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | c.1836-1840 to 1954 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival |
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Black |
| Acreage | 850 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Teel-Crawford-Gaston Plantation (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.