The William Bailey Plantation was a large cotton plantation of 2510 acres (10 km²) located in central Leon County

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, USA established by William Bailey.

Location

The William Bailey Plantation had 3 tracts of land. The first tract bordered the William A. Carr Plantation

William A. Carr Plantation

The William A. Carr Plantation was a small cotton plantation of 2000 acres in northwestern Leon County, Florida established by William A. Carr.-Location:...

 on the north and east. It bordered the second tract of Burgesstown Plantation

Burgesstown Plantation

Burgesstown Plantation was a large cotton plantation of in northern Leon County, Florida, United States established by Frederich R. Cotten between 1850 and 1855.-Plantation location:...

 on the west. Today, this land would edge the west side of N. Meridian Road near Gardner Road on the north and south including eastern parts of Miller Landing Road, the black neighborhoods on Louis John Lane, China Doll Drive, Paremore Road, Sandy Springs Lane and Thompson Circle to and including eastern Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park

Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park

Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park is an open natural park located in northern Tallahassee, Florida, United States and operated by the City Of Tallahassee...

.

The second tract to the east bordered Oaklawn Plantation

Oaklawn Plantation

Oaklawn Plantation was a large plantation of 5326 acres in northern Leon County in the U.S. state of Florida. It was established around 1850 by Captain William Lester of Burke County, Georgia.-Location:...

 on the north side and the William A. Carr Plantation

William A. Carr Plantation

The William A. Carr Plantation was a small cotton plantation of 2000 acres in northwestern Leon County, Florida established by William A. Carr.-Location:...

 on the west. Today this land encompasses parts of Killearn Estates and other developments on the east side of Thomasville Road and the eastern Ox Bottom Road on the west side of Thomasville Road.

The third tract was the farthest south and east of the capitol. Today this land encompasses Hillaman Golf Course, Governor's Square Mall, western Apalachee Parkway, and western Old St. Augustine Road.

Plantation specifics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that the William Bailey Plantation had the following:

• Improved Land: 825 acres (3 km²)
• Unimproved Land: 564 acres (2 km²)
• Cash value of plantation: $42,670
• Cash value of farm implements/machinery: $945
• Cash value of farm animals: $4817
• Number of slaves: 80
• Bushels of corn: 4,000
• Bales of cotton: 352

William Bailey

William Bailey was a Georgian that came to Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Florida

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population is 12,902. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 14,490 . Its county seat is Monticello, Florida....

 in the 1820s. His acquisition of Leon County land began in 1850 with the tracts displayed. By 1860, Bailey still owned plantation property in Jefferson Co. on the Aucilla River

Aucilla River

The Aucilla River rises close to Thomasville, Georgia, USA, and passes through the Big Bend region of Florida, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Apalachee Bay. The river is long and has a drainage basin of . The Wacissa River is a tributary...

.

The Union Bank building in Tallahasse was purchased in 1847 by William Bailey and Isaac Mitchell after it closed in 1843 due to the Panic of 1837

Panic of 1837

The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...

, Seminole Indian Wars

Seminole Wars

The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...

, and unsound banking practices. William Bailey also served on the Tallahassee Railroad Board of Directors 1861-1865. William Bailey was also a general during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. He died in 1867.