Godfrey Barnsley (1805–1873) was a nineteenth-century British-American businessman and cotton broker who became one of the wealthiest people in the southeastern United States.

Barnsley sought to find land where he could build a home that would be away from the heat and threat of yellow fever and malaria prevalent of the Georgia Coast where he lived.

[2] It had mantels of black and white marble imported from Italy and also had "unheard of conveniences, such as hot and cold running water.

An old American Indian, who worked with Barnsley, warned him not to build on that piece of property.

[3] Barnsley still continued to build the mansion after Julia's death because he felt her presence at the site.

[3] When the American Civil War started, the cotton Barnsley brokered was no longer sellable and wound up rotting in warehouses in New Orleans.

[3] By the end of the war, Barnsley moved to New Orleans to try to regain his lost fortune.

[3] He left Woodlands to be managed by James Peter Baltzelle, a Confederate army captain, who had married his daughter Julia.

[2] Baltzelle made a living by shipping timber from Woodlands, but was killed by a falling tree in 1868.

[1] The Woodlands manor house was destroyed in 1906 by a tornado, but the ruins are now open to the public and are part of Barnsley Resort.