Orton Plantation

The Orton Plantation is a historic Southern plantation in the Smithville Township of Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. Located beside the Cape Fear River between Wilmington and Southport, Orton Plantation is considered to be a near-perfect example of Southern antebellum architecture. Built in 1735 by the co-founder of Brunswick Town, the Orton Plantation house is one of the oldest structures in Brunswick County. During its history Orton Plantation has been attacked by Native Americans, used as a military hospital, and been home to lawyers, physicians, military leaders, and a Colonial governor.[2][3] Although the home is privately owned and closed to the public, the Orton Plantation Gardens and family-owned chapel have become a tourist destination in Southeastern North Carolina, attracting thousands of visitors each year. On April 11, 1973, the Orton Plantation was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Visit the Orton Gardens website for details.

Visit Wilmington Walk of Fame.

In 1725, Roger Moore, son of Governor James Moore and grandson of Irish nobleman Rory Moore, and his family moved from the Province of South Carolina to an area of land known as Orton in southeastern North Carolina. Orton was owned by Roger's brother, Colonel Maurice Moore, a colonial governor, author of a famous essay denouncing the Stamp Act of 1765, and father of Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfred Moore. Maurice sold the land to his brother when Roger moved to the area and together they founded Brunswick Town one mile (1.6 km) south of Orton.[4][5][2] The first home Roger built in 1725 was destroyed by local Native Americans. Roger constructed the current Orton Plantation home in 1735 and developed his land into a leading rice plantation with the help of hundreds of slaves. Orton remained in the Moore family until it was purchased by Benjamin Smith, who eventually lost ownership and was forced to auction off the home and surrounding 4,975 acres (2,013 ha). The property was purchased by a physician, Frederick Jones Hill, in 1826. The Orton Plantation remained in Hill's possession until the fall of Fort Anderson and Fort Fisher during the Civil War. Following the Confederate defeat at Fort Fisher, Union soldiers confiscated Orton Plantation and used the home as a military hospital, thus sparing it from destruction. Orton Plantation was abandoned after the War and the house sat empty for 19 years.

In 1884, Orton Plantation was purchased by a former Confederate military officer, Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison. Muchison restored the plantation to its original appearance and made it his winter home. When Mutchison died in 1904, Orton Plantation was purchased by his son-in-law and daughter, James and Luola Sprunt. James, a lawyer, encouraged his wife to remodel the home and in 1910 he and Luola began the development of a flower garden and expansion of the house. The Sprunts constructed a family chapel in 1915, and when his wife died the following year from scarlet fever, James renamed the building to Luola's Chapel in her honor.

In the 1930s, their son James Laurence Sprunt and his wife Annie enlarged the garden to its current size of 20 acres. After a relative was involved in an automobile accident, the Sprunts opened their garden to the public in hopes of raising money for medical expenses. Charging 25 cents for an entrance fee, the family raised $1,000 in a week. From that point on, the Sprunts decided to keep the garden open to the public. In 1954, the Sprunt family donated 114.5 acres of the Orton Plantation to establish the Brunswick Town State Historic Site. Four years later, James Laurence Sprunt wrote a book about the history of Orton Plantation entitled The Story of Orton Plantation. Ownership of the Orton Plantation has since been passed down to each generation of the Sprunt family and the current owners are the great-grandchildren of Murchison.

The Orton Plantation is now a tourist attraction with the gardens and chapel open to the public. The old rice fields are now a wildlife sanctuary and the plantation has become a haven for birdwatchers. Weddings, family reunions, corporate events, and school fieldtrips take place at the property and the gift shop and ticket office are located in Sunnyside, a playhouse built in the 1890s for James and Luola's daughter, Marion. Sunnyside was moved to the Orton Plantation in 1939.