File:Kingsley Plantation Slave Houses.jpg

The ruins of the slave houses at Kingsley Plantation, Florida, USA. The houses consisted of two rooms sized approximately 8' x 10', 2 doorways, 4 window openings and a large brick fireplace for cooking and heat. They were built in a semicircle about 1/4 of a mile from the owner's house.

The houses were constructed of tabby: a mixture of oyster shell, lime, sand, dirt, and water. They would have been covered in lime plaster to give it a whitewashed adobe look. The roof would have been wooden shingle or palmetto frond, and the door wood as well. There would have been fabric only if that, covering the windows. Floors would have been sand. The National Park Service restored the largest slave house at Kingsley to what it looked like when the plantation was functioning (see associated photo in article).

They are located at the main entrance to the park. There are approximately 23 ruined slave houses at Kingsley. Since before the park's induction into the National Park Service and after, the slave houses have been vandalized with various messages or initials. The tabby is very soft and the houses are irreparably damaged by the vandalism.