Gamble Plantation Historic State Park

Gamble Mansion built 1845-1850

Gamble Plantation is located on 16 acres just off of Highway 301 in Manatee County, Florida. It is the last surviving antebellum mansion in south Florida built by Major Robert Gamble, who came to homestead in Florida shortly after the end of the Seminole War of 1842. From 160 acres originally granted to Major Gamble it grew to 3500 acres and a prosperous sugar mill operation along the banks of the Manatee River until 1864 when the mill was destroyed by Union raiders. Confederate blockade runner Captain Archibald McNeill occupied the home during the war. Former Confederate Secretary of State Judah P Benjamin took refuge there while in flight from Federal authorities after the war until he made his escape to the Bahamas with the aid of Captain McNeill. 
   

Patten House built 1872

The land was owned for a time after the war by George Patten who built his own house on the grounds because the mansion was in too poor a condition to live in.

40,000 gallon cistern

Bed in upstairs bedroom

 In 1923 the Judah P Benjamin chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy started a campaign to raise money to save and restore the badly deteriorating mansion. Restoration was completed in 1927 and a plaque honoring Benjamin was installed in 1937. The mansion was added to The National Register of Historic Places in

Kitchen in separate building from mansion

1970. The grounds are open to the public Thursday through Monday from 9am until 5pm with guided tours twice daily. It is located at 3708 Patten Ave in Ellenton, Florida. For more information follow the provided link. 

 http://www.floridastateparks.org/gambleplantation/