Callaway Estate: A Family’s Commitment to Land Stewardship

The Cason Callaway Woodland Estate is a legacy of the Callaway family’s historical commitment to improving their lands and utilizing resources to benefit others.

To appreciate this property, one must first understand the family that nurtured its uniqueness. Callaway family records, going back seven generations, show a consistent pattern of improving the lands they own as well as caring for the people around them. Enoch Callaway farmed 2,000 acres inherited from his father, John. In addition, he preached locally and participated in the organizational meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845. Enoch’s son, Abner, farmed, preached and was a Professor of Natural Science at a local women’s college. Abner’s son, Fuller, continued the family tradition of farming and established a cotton milling business that strongly focused on the economic, social and educational development of its employees. Fuller was once quoted as saying, “I make American citizens and run cotton mills to pay the expenses.” During the depression, when most employees at surrounding mills were laid off, Fuller’s son Cason made sure that every company family had one person working full time at full wages.

Therefore, when Cason acquired 40,000 acres of soil distressed cotton lands, he followed his family’s long tradition of caring for the land and people. He developed an experimental farm pioneering land recovery techniques and discovered an innovative way to share these techniques with struggling farmers across Georgia. Cason went on to develop and establish Callaway Gardens, which he opened to the public so that millions of Americans could experience the culmination of his land stewardship philosophies.

Today, the 7,456-acre Cason Callaway Woodland Estate is being offered for purchase for the first time ever by the Callaway family.

The property was assembled by Cason Callaway in Harris County, Georgia, and was once part of his 40,000-acre estate, which included Callaway Gardens. Like the Gardens, this property reflects many of Cason’s innovative and conservation-minded philosophies. However, unlike the Gardens, it is an untamed wilderness with diverse ecology. Located just north of the Fall Line in the southern Piedmont, the rocky-bottomed Mountain Creek flows through the property for 4.7 miles creating beautiful bottomland hardwood forest. In contrast, the ridges of Pine Mountain form the south boundary where stands of montane longleaf pine can still be found, and where the Callaway family first discovered the rare plumleaf azalea.

The estate is surrounded by well-managed neighboring properties that total 33,000 acres, with over 6,000 acres of adjacent land under conservation easements and another 7,000 acres in a State Park. With property frontage on two paved public roads, access to the property is unusually perfect. Use of all internal roads is exclusive to the owners; no adjoining owners use any of the 57 mile long network of interior roads, many which feature stone culverts, stone-lined drains and stone bridge foundations.

A Certified Wildlife Biologist, directing habitat creation and setting harvest guidelines, oversees this incredible free-range whitetail deer hunting property. There are 120 acres of actively managed wildlife food plots and the results of annual game camera surveys are available. Bucks younger than 4-1/2 years are reserved and hunters regularly take 150-class plus deer. In fact, two deer are registered in Boone and Crockett. Importantly, the effects of good land management are amplified because the surrounding 33,000 acres also have free-range herds and similar harvest restrictions. This is truly a unique whitetail hunting experience.

A 38-acre lake built by Cason has unique and innovative water control devices that limit sediment-laden water from flowing into the lake and prevent excessive water from flowing out of the lake. These features are so unusual it was featured in a 1940 Outdoor Georgia magazine article. The lake is professionally managed and stocked.

The property has almost $10 million in timber value as estimated by a March 2016 timber cruise. Significant additional property data is also available detailing forest types, soils, geology, hydrology, archaeology surveys, historic house locations, and grave locations – just to name a few. The family even has 100-year-old government maps of the property.

The Cason Callaway Woodland Estate is a legacy of the long history of the Callaway family improving their lands and utilizing their resources to benefit others.

For more information about this unique legacy property, contact Tom Brickman, Managing Broker & Principal at Cyprus Partners, at 205-936-2160 or visit callawaywoodlands.com Want to showcase your unique property on LANDTHINK? Contact us to learn more.

This property is being offered for sale by Tom Brickman, Managing Broker & Principal at Cyprus Partners, and exclusive agent for the property owners. All information about the property has been obtained from sources which Cyprus Partners believe to be reliable. However, neither Cyprus Partners nor the property owners make any representation or warranty as to the completeness or accuracy of the information provided. This property is subject to prior sale, price change and withdrawal from the market without notice. No representation or warranty is made, express or implied, as to the condition of the property, boundaries, fitness for any particular use, fair market value, access, acres, zoning, or condition of title.