The Grove likely served as an important planning center during the war, as Call, who advocated for a more aggressive military strategy, often sent the Florida militia off to conduct their own campaigns.

The thick exterior and interior walls and the columns are all made from brick, likely manufactured onsite, giving the building a fortress-like appearance.

[8] The Grove was built by enslaved craftsmen of African descent, many of whom were likely hired from other slave owners and had perhaps also worked to build Call's railroad.

While Call owned a number of slaves at this time and later became a cotton planter, there is little evidence to suggest The Grove itself ever served as a major agricultural plantation.

During the financial fallout from the Port Leon disaster in the early 1840s, of which Richard Keith Call was a major investor, The Grove was among the assets listed as collateral in settlements reached with his various creditors.

In the ensuing settlements, Call lost some of his land holdings, but was able to keep The Grove, the Tallahassee Railroad Company, and the Orchard Pond Plantation near Lake Jackson.

In one of the notable events of The Grove's history, Call, who was an ardent Southern Unionist, came to Tallahassee to protest the state's secession convention taking place at the Capitol in January 1861.

Call stood out on the front porch, and raising his cane above his head, told them "You have opened the gates of hell, from which shall flow the curses of the damned which shall sink you to perdition.

After Ellen Call Long acquired the property, The Grove remained an important social gathering place for the political and economic elite of Tallahassee.

Her son, Richard Call Long, Sr., served in the 2nd Florida Cavalry and she opened The Grove to Confederate officers and to wounded veterans.

Ellen opened The Grove for a number of social events during the Civil War, including the Tallahassee May Day festivities held on the grounds on May 1, 1865, less than a week after the city received the news of General Robert E. Lee's surrender.

The Second Florida cavalry band provided music for the event, which was likely the last performance of the group as the Union army, under General Edward McCook, arrived in the city on May 10, 1865.

As a way of supporting herself and her family, she started silkworm cultivation on The Grove property, at first using the first floor of the main house before building a separate cottage for this purpose.

Mrs. Collins was a great granddaughter of Richard Keith Call, and her family connections to The Grove played a pivotal role in the Fords deciding to sell them the property for less than market value.

Their restoration work came to a halt in the early 1940s, as Collins stepped down from his legislative seat to enlist in the Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of Lt. J.G.

In subsequent renovations of the historic cistern, the dog tags of a Lt. Joseph Azat, a pilot who died during World War II, were recovered and later returned to his family.

During his governorship, Collins became embroiled in the debate over integration sparked by the US Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

He was selected as Honorary Chairman of the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles and later took positions in the Lyndon B. Johnson administration as Under Secretary of Commerce and head of the newly created Community Relations Service (CRS).

Photographs showing his involvement with Selma circulated back in Florida shortly afterwards and effectively killed his political career after he tried unsuccessfully to run for Senate in 1968.

Like her grandmother before her, Reinette faced the difficulties of maintaining The Grove as a single woman in an era when men dominated the business, political, and the legal systems of society.

By 1916, Ronalds bought Orchard Pond from Reinette, ending over 70 years of direct association between members of the Call family and the property.

Reinette developed friendships with many of the elite northerners who moved to Tallahassee at this time, including Frances C. Griscom, a champion amateur golfer.

A grandstand was constructed and people watched as separate plays were held for white and black audiences on different days, at least one of which was written by Reinette herself.

The Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources began the process of preparing the building for future use as a public museum.

As part of this, a non-historic carport built by the Collins family on the property was repurposed into a public bathroom and a pump was installed into the cistern to allow for it to collect rainwater from the building and provide irrigation for the lawn, minimizing the site's impact on the city water supply.

Among the distinguishing architectural features of the house is a full-height pedimented portico supported by four Tuscan columns, a prominent dentilated cornice extending around the building along the roofline, elaborate doors on both the first and second story, and a symmetrical, balanced interior floorplan, all of which are hallmarks of the Greek Revival style.

The original main entrance of the house features double wooden doors flanked by unfinished paired fluted pilasters and columns, and elaborate sidelights.

The original main entryway is also topped by an elaborate elliptical fanlight and a plain entablature similar in appearance to that extending near the portico roofline.

The interior layout of The Grove's historic core has been described as Georgian in design, with a central hallway on the first and second floors flanked by two rooms identical in size.

Other prominent design elements in the interior of the building including decorative pedimented pilaster moldings around the windows and Egyptian marble fireplaces in the first floor parlor and dining room.