By Jay Polk - bio | email
LEE COUNTY, GA (WALB) - At Senah Plantation in Lee County you can find acres and acres of quiet and solitude. You can even hear the birds sing. But if you listen carefully you can hear another song.
It's the familiar song of the auctioneer. Part of Senah plantation is for sale.
"We've got 1803 acres that we're selling," said Tommy Rowell of Rowell Auctions in Moultrie.
Friday, dozens of people showed up to bid on 25 parcels of land. And if they were looking for a lot of elbow room: "they can buy the 1800 acres as a whole," said Rowell.
So what will prospective buyers be able to do with all of their new real estate?
Rowell said, "there's fine timber stands. We've got a mile and a half of Flint River frontage. We've got beautiful home sites and recreation that's available."
For Rowell Auctions, selling land like this is nothing new.
"There's been quite a few land sales that have occurred this year," he said.
The stately oaks are not that unusual on plantations around South Georgia and neither are the sales, they're happening pretty regularly at this point. But what is unusual is the history of Senah Plantation.
Some famous people have left their footprints on this land.
Jay Williams, the owner of Senah Plantation said, "President Jimmy Carter was a guest of my father and I. Senator Sam Nunn, Governor Zell Miller, Governor Sonny Perdue."
Senah is known for its fine hunting, but also for its previous owners.
"James Hanes assembled the property back in the 40s and 50s," said Williams.
Yes, the Hanes underwear family. The Williams family bought Senah in 1986. They've enjoyed the land, but there is some expense in keeping up 10,000 acres.
"Yeah, it takes some...you have property taxes and you have a crew of people that work on the place and feed the wildlife," said Williams.
And with two children, the Williams' made a decision about their land: "I figure it was time to sell some and do some estate planning," he said
But what looks like a simple land transaction also has another meaning. It also marks the ending of an era. With small chunks of these former large plantations being sold off, it's a sure sign that the formerly slow pace of life in Lee County is changing forever.
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