The Thomas Evans Haile family moved from Camden, South Carolina to this site in 1854 to establish a 1,500-acre Sea Island cotton plantation which they named Kanapaha. Built by enslaved black craftsmen, the main house was completed in 1856.

During the Civil War, Thomas E. Haile served as a lieutenant in the 2nd Florida Cavalry and his oldest son, John, enlisted as a private. In May 1865, a month after the capture of Richmond by Union forces, the baggage train of President Jefferson Davis reached Alachua County. Upon hearing that Davis had been captured in Georgia earlier in the month, members of the small baggage train guard hid its contents at David Levy Yulee's Cotton Wood Plantation at Archer and sought parole from Union forces.

Two of these men, Sid Winder and Francis Trench Tilghman, who left a diary of the events, were provided shelter at Kanapaha before proceeding to Jacksonville to surrender.

The Hailes had the unusual habit of writing on the walls of their home, and over 12,500 words, with the oldest dating to the 1850s, are visible in almost every room and closet of the main house.

Photo courtesy of www.hailehomestead.org

Information Provided by the Florida Department of State.