Founded as a forced-labor farm worked by John Jarrell and the African American people he enslaved, the site stands today as one of the best-preserved examples of a "middle class" Southern plantation.

Typical of antebellum cotton plantations, John Jarrell ran the farm with his family and the forced labor of enslaved Africans.

[7] In 1974, Dick Jarrell's nine surviving adult children donated the plantation site to the State of Georgia for the preservation of the farm and the education of future generations about their heritage.

The State of Georgia's Department of Natural Resources operates the now 200-acre (810,000 m2) historic site and opens it to the public Thursday through Sunday.

[2] The site's buildings and structures include the farmhouse, a sawmill, cotton gin, gristmill, shingle mill, planer, sugar cane press, syrup evaporator, workshop, barn and outbuildings.