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    Recommended Reviews - Gamble Plantation

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    Gamble Plantation
    j f.

    Antebellum mansion of former sugar plantation. Beautiful trees on the property. Small museum area with artifacts of the time which gave some interesting information about the place. The mansion itself was very plain and not grand in any way one would expect of a plantation mansion. It's kind of a let-down, honestly. Tour ($6) guide was just okay. Felt like he just wanted to recite his script and seemed to be genuinely annoyed with us for asking questions. Mind you, my family were the only ones on the tour. We love doing these smaller historical sites and have never been made to feel so unwelcome. If you're in the immediate area, a quick, interesting stop on lively grounds. Definitely not a destination in and of itself.

    Vic C.

    The Gamble Plantation is the last surviving plantation in South Florida. There is no entry fee but tours are $6 per person (for 2, I was charged $12.01 on my credit card) and there is plenty of free parking. Please note that dogs are allowed on the grounds but not allowed on the tour. I came by this plantation with my husband on a Saturday afternoon, around 1:45 pm. We were able to catch the 2 pm tour, as we walked in the main office and paid our admission (please note that there are restrooms right outside the main office. The ladies restroom was clean and adequately stocked w/ the essentials). Our tour guide, Park Ranger Jessie, is rather an interesting and quirky man. He has a different type of humor but still found him to be informative during this 45 minute long tour. We learned that Major Robert Gamble Jr was the one who built this plantation and was a sugar planter. During this time period, 1800's, he had numerous of slaves working the plantation. Due to low sales of sugar, in the late 1850's, Mr. Gamble ended up selling his plantation. Then during the Civil War, Captain Archibald McNeill lived in the mansion. Judah P. Benjamin, who was the Confederate Secretary of State, took refuge here during in May 1865, while making his escape from Federal troops following defeat of the Confederacy. Judah P. Benjamin eventually left and went to England. He later became a lawyer and ended up being part of the Queen's counsel. The Gamble Plantation was eventually destroyed during the war time and the Daughters of the Confederacy had this mansion restored. On the same property, there is the Patton House, which is not part of the tour and guests are not able to go inside to look around. It is currently being restored, as it has had damage and is unsafe for visitors to go inside. It was interesting to see some of the furniture during this time period when this home was built and used. But the furniture may not necessarily be the original. According to Jessie, the pieces placed may just be appropriate for the time period. For this tour, you will be required to go up stairs and stand the entire duration of time. Just thought I would mention this, as there was an elderly woman who did receive assistance from her daughter and grand daughter, as the tour group made their way around the various parts of the plantation. Overall, this tour was nice and educational. Also great the the tour was pretty cheap. I wished we would have been able to see some of the other rooms that were closed off to the public. Definitely a nice place to check out if you are in this part of Florida, but I don't know if it is worth a special visit. Please note that tours start every hour. If you miss the a tour, you can just wait for the next one. Of if you come 5 minutes after the tour has began, you may be lucky for Jessie to let you join the tour anyway and just pay afterwards (this is what he did for 2 separate parties once the tour had began).

    John M.

    I was enroute to a meeting in Sarasota, Florida and pulled off to get gas and seen this park. I decided to take a moment to check it out. This is a park to enjoy the lovely Florida weather, but it is so much more than that. It is a glimpse into the past, into a different world that the continuous steps of time keeps us seperated. If you find yourself in the area, I recommend a visit here. Park your car and walk into another time.

    Visiting hours posted on site
    Monica W.

    This is the second time I have tried to visit. The website says open, but sadly the Plantation is not open. The park is but not the Plantation. I was wanting to get my State Park stamp for my passport but nope. Also called number and although there are two Rangers cars here no reposonse.

    Piano from 1927, UDC donation
    Rebecca G.

    We were looking for something to do after going and having a big lunch at Yoder's. I have always seen the sign for the plantation on I-75 and thought we would check it out on the way back home. The Gamble Plantation is run by the Florida State Parks, which is great. To take a tour, it is only $6 per person for adults. A park ranger will take you on an hour long tour of the mansion and then after that you can walk around the grounds if you'd like. We stopped by on a Saturday and it was a little overcast. We were lucky enough to be the only people on the tour too! Lots of great information about how Florida was in the 1800s. Our tour guide, Pat, was very friendly and knowledgeable. We enjoyed it. There is a covered pavilion with picnic tables and grills as well as other picnic spots throughout the property as well so it would be a nice place for a picnic or maybe a big get together. I am sure you can rent the pavilion. Pat also told us they have some classic car shows during the year as well as a Christmas Open House where the Daughters of the Confederate dress up in period costumes.

    Marcie L.

    We drive out here to see this , 2 hours but due to the virus it was closed. The man there" Tony" was very nice and allowed us to walk around it and look in the windows. It is a beautiful place and I will come back again at a later date

    Perhaps M.

    Drove three hours to get to the Gamble Plantation and everyone agreed it was very worth it! Went on the tour of the plantation house for $6 and it was a whole hour long. And our tour guide was awesome! The grounds are beautiful and the history of the place is fascinating! It begins from the end of the Seminole War to the 1920s, when the place was purchased and deeded to the state. We also learned little tidbits regarding the origin of "pop goes the weasel", "hush puppies" etc. I was very hesitant checking out a plantation but there is no glorifying of slavery or the Confederacy.

    Gamble Mansion

    Really beautiful place. I Love history, I hope to learn a bit more. Tour guide, Jesse was awesome. Funny & informative.

    Tom M.

    Located right of the US 301 some 2 miles west from I-75 (exit 224). I've passed this park multiple times before finally stopping by on my last mini-workation (taking a vacation to do work). It's a Historic State Park that takes you back to the early pioneer days of the Florida Sun Coast (1840s). Gamble came from a wealth family in Tallahassee and quickly increased his land holdings to 3500 acres, of which 1500 were in cultivation. Like many of the plantation owners in the area, Sugarcane was the staple crop. He brought in machinery from New Orleans for the sugar refinery, but withing 20 years as crops prices fell, he went bankrupt. After years of decay, the property was purchased in 1920s, revitalized and deeded to the State of Florida. When you enter the park you are on axis with the Gamble Mansion. It's the oldest building in Manatee County and is a great little example of Antebellum architecture (Latin for "before the war"). Think of a quaint Front Porch jacked-up on steroids. The columns are massive 2 story chunks that wrap 3 side of the building. Our own Floridian Greek Temple.... ok, maybe not. There's also a picnic area and pavilion in the back of the Mansion. Everything under the old majestic Oaks that sprinkle the property. To the east of the Gamble Mansion is the Patten House. A Florida pioneer farmhouse. The interior has many original period furniture pieces, photos, rugs, lamps, kitchen and dining area. Through the years the house had additions, but you can easily pick up on the original 4 rooms of the structure. There's a second floor but visitors are not allowed up the stair (safety). My visit to the area coincided with the Spring Open House (1st Sunday in March) While I couldn't make it to the event, it was filled with: Free Tours of the Mansion & Patten House Live Civil War Era Weapons Period Costumes & Uniforms Civil War Field Equipment Music and Food Check the website or call for other events throughout the year.

    Stairwell at the Gamble Plantation.
    Naty K.

    Gamble Plantation Historic State Park consists of an antebellum mansion constructed in the Doric Revivalist Vernacular architectural style, developed by its first owner, Major Robert Gamble. It is the only surviving plantation in South Florida, and a popular wedding destination. Its columns and two-foot-thick walls are constructed of tabby, a regional material developed as a substitute for brick. In addition to the plantation is a 40,000-gallon cistern to provide the household with fresh water (fish were kept in the cistern to eat insects and help keep the water clean), and a 16 acre sugar plantation. At its peak, the plantation occupied 3500 acres in South Florida, and Gamble likely held more than 600 slaves. The park also includes the restored wood-frame, two-story, Victorian-style Patten House, built in 1872 for owner George Patten. The mansion would have been left to decay, had it not been for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who purchased it after finding out that Judah P. Benjamin, who served in three Cabinet positions under Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the American Civil War, had hidden out in the mansion. He stayed at the plantation in May 1865 before escaping Federal forces. After remaining abandoned for some time, George Patten bought the property in 1872 but decided the mansion was in poor condition and built a two-story Victorian-style house directly in front of it, in which he lived. The Patten house remains, though it has been moved to the side to allow the restored and imposing plantation to be the star of the show. By the way, if you're a history buff, you may want to head north on State Road 683 to see the ruins of the original sugar mill. Inside the building where you purchase tickets on the Gamble Plantation Historic Park, is a small museum exhibit that is worth checking out (it is free). The guided tours are $6, but WARNING! You will NOT be allowed inside the Gamble plantation at ALL unless you pay for the tour. Even if you try to pay for the tour and it has already started, you will NOT be allowed to do so and join the tour. I wish the website had stated this because we came at 4:15, thinking we'd be allowed to roam the home until 5, giving us plenty of time, until we were told by the lady behind the counter that the interior of the mansion was off-limits and to return the next day. This was a frustrating waste of time since it's about 30 minutes away from the downtown Sarasota area, so I thought I would do you all the favor of informing you about this. Tour times, by the way, are 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., Thursday through Monday. Because of this, I deducted a star, and in addition, the Patten house is only open on Sundays if the UDC are around to open it, there is no set opening time. It seems like a halfway done effort to have one house available for viewing but not the other. There is really no reason why both houses cannot be open for touring, so that is why I took off another star. My friend, who has been to several plantations in South Carolina, Mississippi and Savannah, said this is one of the plainest ones he has seen (both the exterior and interior) -- this was meant to be a frontier mansion, not some elaborate "show-off" mansion in which no expense was spared, so be realistic in your expectations.

    View from the front of the top veranda
    Tracy P.

    Gamble Mansion and Plantation is an antebellum sugar plantation. A guided tour of the mansion costs $6 and takes about 45 minutes. Our park ranger for the guided tour was knowledgeable and entertaining. The museum in the visitors center has a lot of artifacts from the plantation life after the Second Seminole War through 1925 and the other owners of the mansion. On the property is the Patten House, which was not open because of renovations. The park area has picnic tables, benches, and a gazebo.

    Laurie L.

    My son and I love history. I do wish I could have spent more time in the rooms of the mansion. The guide did an outstanding job but did not have any additional time to leave the welcome center/museum open between tours. Would have been 5 stars if we could have gone back into the museum.

    Gamble Plantion (Palmetto, Florida)
    Christian C.

    Great place to learn about the Gamble family and how they made their fortune from sugar and slavery. Learn how Robert Gamble employed endless efforts to avoid Seminole instrusion. See the magnificent home he lived in that was built by slave labor. Located in sleepy Palmetto, Florida and a must for American history buffs. Tour is only 45 minutes and costs only $5 bucks. See this place.

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    Ask the Community - Gamble Plantation

    Review Highlights - Gamble Plantation

    Visitors to the park can take $6 guided tours of the mansion six times a day.

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    Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial

    Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial

    5.0(1 review)
    0.0 mi

    The correct name for this historic site is the Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble…read morePlantation Historic State Park but the right name is too long for Yelp. This is one of Florida's 175 State Parks. Florida has one of the largest State Park systems in the country and includes nearly 800,000 acres and 100 miles of beach. The Florida State Park System is the first four-time winner of the Gold Medal honoring the nation's best state park system. This State Park in Ellenton contains the only surviving plantation house in South Florida. In 1843 Major Robert Gamble established a sugar plantation in a remote region along the Manatee River. It took six years to build the Gamble Plantation. Gamble was a bachelor but he built a lavish for the times 10-room, two-story mansion with two feet thick tabby walls and wide shaded verandas wrapping around three sides of the house. Gamble only operated the plantation for 12 years and left for good in 1856 due to sinking sugar prices. After the Civil War it is thought that Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin hid out here after the fall of the Confederacy. Benjamin was a prominent Jewish New Orleans plantation owner and a trusted confidante of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. At the Gamble Plantation he was helped by Archibald McNeil, a blockade runner who secured his passage to the Bahamas before he escaped to England. In 1925, the house and 16 acres of land were saved by the United Daughters of the Confederacy who restored the house and and donated to the state. The jewel of the park is the mansion which you can tour six times a day ,Thursday through Monday for $6. In addition to the Gamble Mansion the visitors center has a small museum with exhibits and a few objects from the Civil War. One of the most moving displays is a Census Bureau document listing the enslaved people on the plantation by name. During the tour park Ranger Jesse mentions it with a pledge "We know their names and we honor every one of them." Also in the park is the 1895 Patten House, a pioneer farmhouse also preserved and maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy but not open for tours during our visit. Other park amenities include picnic tables, benches, and restrooms. The visitor center is open from 9 to 11:45 a.m. and 12:45 to 5 p.m., Thursday through Monday; it is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

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    Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial
    Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial
    Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial

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    Florida Railroad Museum

    Florida Railroad Museum

    4.1(147 reviews)
    7.9 mi

    This was such a great experience! We did the Murder Mystery ride and it was amazing! The…read morecharacters were engaging and involved the audience in solving the murder in a fun way. The staff was friendly and welcoming and the food was delicious! Highly recommend this experience!

    We had high expectations for the North Pole Express at the Florida Railroad Museum, but…read moreunfortunately the experience was very disappointing. The weather was extremely poor, which significantly affected the event, yet it still went on without any real adjustments or consideration for guest comfort. Long waits in the cold and rain, general disorganization, and a lack of clear direction made the evening stressful rather than enjoyable -- especially for families with children. The overall experience did not come close to what was advertised or priced. When we reached out afterward, customer service was slow and unresponsive, and a refund was denied despite the circumstances. The alternative offered was a future-use gift card, which isn't helpful if you're unable to return. To make matters worse, the amount offered didn't even match what we actually paid. Between the event itself and the way concerns were handled afterward, this was a frustrating and disappointing experience. We would not recommend this event based on how it was run and how customer issues were addressed.

    Photos
    Florida Railroad Museum - Our assigned booth.

    Our assigned booth.

    Florida Railroad Museum - Made the mistake of buying railroad hat, handkerchief, and whistle. Both boys quickly decided that they didn't want to wear!

    Made the mistake of buying railroad hat, handkerchief, and whistle. Both boys quickly decided that they didn't want to wear!

    Florida Railroad Museum - Lots of cheerful Christmas lights at the Polar Express!

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    Lots of cheerful Christmas lights at the Polar Express!

    Gamble Plantation - landmarks - Updated May 2026

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