Millstone Institute of Preservation, Inc. was founded in 1995 as a non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation of 160 acres of land and a 19th Century Colonial Revival farmhouse, collectively known as the Millstone Plantation.
With its broad panoramic views of Lake McBride, the old Millstone Plantation family home completes a vision of the Old South. Its original floor and walls were constructed in the late 1800's, but the history of the land dates from Paleo-Indian (12,000 BC). More recent inhabitants from the last millennium include Mississippi Mound Builders, Apalachee Indians, and Spanish ranchers.
From 1850 to 1900, a 500-acre cotton plantation ten miles north of Tallahassee, Florida was established by a family of German immigrants named Isler. In 1936, as the Great Depression held America in its grip, a young dentist named Fred Conrad decided to set up practice in Tallahassee, and with his wife Jessie, was able to purchase the plantation.
At this point in its history the place was known as Millstone Plantation, named for the many grinding stones found beside the creek that flows across the property to Lake McBride. Documents indicate that Andrew Jackson's surveyor general, Col. Robert Butler operated a mill on the property during the colonial period. The largest millstone now sits outside the family home.
The Conrads set up a working farm, complete with cows and sheep, horses and chickens. Within ten years, they were a family of five with three sons; and while Dr. Conrad's dental skills increased his work in town, Jessie and the boys shared the work and pleasures of life on the farm. The Conrads loved sharing Millstone with the capital city community. They hosted many social gatherings and Jessie became an active volunteer and sponsor of programs which introduced Millstone to the public, especially children.
Dr. Conrad passed away in the early Seventies. Jessie lived another two decades and continued, with the help of her sons, to open Millstone's gates to the community for numerous educational projects, historical and scientific. Know by her peers as “the mistress and shepherd of Millstone”, Jessie Conrad left Millstone Plantation, the family home and surrounding 100+ acres to America: The Millstone Institute for Preservation.
Millstone Institute of Preservation, Inc
6500 Old Millstone Plantation Road
Tallahassee, Florida 32312
(850) 668-2771
webmaster@millstoneinstitute.org