Exuma Properties

Hermitage Plantation – This 970-acre plantation is the last surviving example of the many cotton plantations that once dotted The Bahamas. Highlights include the oldest building in the Exumas, Cotton House, circa 1780’s.

Drive into Williams Town and meander through the ruins of the Hermitage Plantation, a reminder of how British loyalists tried – and eventually failed – to establish a plantation economy on the island after the American Revolution. Another reminder, incidentally, is the wild cotton you see the entire length (about 60 miles) and breadth (about 7 miles) of Great and Little Exuma. For lunch, stop at Santanna’s roadside stand in Williams Town (242-345-4102) and chat with Dee Rolle-Styles as she fixes you a plate of cracked lobster ($18). On your way back to George Town, take a right in the middle of the big bend leading into Forbes Hill and put some more sand between your toes at the sweeping beach there.

Hermitage Plantation Ruins at Williams Town: The ruins of this simple, but classic plantation home, and it’s accompanying grave crypts, kitchen house and slave quarters bring back visions of the time when Exuma was a British Loyalist colony. On the way to Williams Town, you will want to see the old salt flats and the stone monument built to signal ships that salt was available for sale.

The Ferguson family from the Carolinas settled in the small settlement of Hermitage, after the American War of Independence.  There are three tombs and a grave with different inscriptions to the memories of George Butler (1759 – 1822), Henderson Ferguson (1772 – 1825) and Constance McDonald (1755 – 1759).  The unmarked grave is believed to be that of an unnamed slave.

Many visitors come to Little Exuma to visit the Hermitage, a plantation constructed by Loyalist settlers. It is the last surviving example of the many that once stood in the Exumas. It was originally built by the Kendall family, who came to Little Exuma in 1784. The family established their plantation at Williamstown and, with their slaves, set about growing cotton. But they encountered so many difficulties having the cotton shipped to Nassau that in 1806 they advertised the plantation for sale. The ad promised “970 acres more or less,” along with “160 hands” (referring to the slaves). There are local guides who can show you around the several old tombs in the area as well as other points of interest.