GOOD HOPE - The historic Casulon Plantation, a site of festivals, Civil War re-enactments and sightseeing tours during recent years, was destroyed by a fire that authorities deemed suspicious. <br>
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Walton County Sheriff Al Yarbrough said the fire apparently started around the back door Monday night. Flames were streaking 100 feet in the air by the time firefighters arrived. <br>
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Firefighters from Walton, Oconee and Morgan counties converged with about 18 vehicles, including 10 water tankers. The closest place to secure additional water was four miles away in Good Hope. <br>
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Deputy State Fire Marshal Troy Reynolds visited the scene Tuesday, but he said it was too early to say how the fire started. <br>
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The two-story antebellum house off Georgia Highway 186, built in 1824, was landscaped with century-old cedars along with magnolias, oaks and an English boxwood garden. It was once the centerpiece of a 10,000-acre cotton plantation. <br>
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It was the home of Gov. James Boynton, who was married at the house in 1883. <br>
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A slave cabin and other structures still exist, although a smokehouse and cellar for keeping vegetables at the rear of the house were destroyed in the fire. <br>
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The house and 15.5 acres of land were for sale at $1.85 million, according to a Website for a firm called Trade Away. <br>
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For years, the house has been at the forefront of an effort to stop Hanson Aggregates from mining a rock quarry on land adjacent to the plantation. The proximity of the proposed quarry to the house was considered a detriment to the structure. <br>
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People involved in the battle against Hanson concede it is a strike against quarry opponents. <br>
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``I really fear that it will now tip in their direction,'' said Bonnie Stanford, an active member of the anti-quarry group. <br>
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Hanson's request for a surface mining permit from the state Environmental Protection Division office in Athens is being evaluated based on the house being there, according to Nigel Wells, environmental director for Hanson's corporate office in Atlanta. <br>
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``The last time I spoke to them, and it was last week, they told me they were nearing the end of the evaluation,'' he said, adding he didn't know if the loss of the house would affect the evaluation.
