Ring Oak Plantation is a large quail hunting plantation located in northeast Leon County

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

Origins

Ring Oak originally was the land of antebellum

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...

 cotton plantations Blakely Plantation

Blakely Plantation

Blakely was a small cotton plantation of located in extreme northeast Leon County, Florida and established by Miles Blake.-Location:Blakely was bounded on the east by Susan's son's Ingleside Plantation and would have been bound on the west by what is now County Road 59...

 and Ingleside Plantation

Ingleside Plantation

Ingleside Plantation was a medium sized cotton plantation of located in extreme northeast Leon County, Florida and established by Joel C. Blake.-Location:...

.

Prior to it having a name, this 13000 acre (5,260.9 ha) property began as a venture sometimes referred to as the Ireland-Ingalls ownership. This was a joint business/leisure concern between David S. Ingalls and Robert Livingston Ireland, Jr.

Robert Livingston Ireland, Jr.

Robert Livingston Ireland, Jr. was a businessman from Cleveland, Ohio, United States.- Education :...

 Ingalls was a director of Pan Am World Airways and publisher of Cincinnati Times-Star. Ireland was an executive with M.A. Hanna Company, a coal company. By 1947 Ring Oak was established as a separate plantation and was owned by David S. and Louise Ingalls.

Ring Oak had its own private landing strip

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 making it possible for David Ingalls, an accomplished pilot, to leave Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 on a Saturday and arrive for the opening of dove

Dove

Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...

 hunting season. The landing strip is there today. The name Ring Oak refers to a circular cut made around the live oak tree

Southern live oak

Quercus virginiana, also known as the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South....

s on the plantation and it's suggested that these rings were the work of local Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 and forced the tree to die so that canoe

Canoe

A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...

s could be made. Many trees survived, scabbing over and creating a noticeable ring.
The Ingalls also made purchases of Chemonie Plantation

Chemonie Plantation

Chemonie Plantation was a medium sized cotton plantation of in northern Leon County, Florida, USA established by Hector Braden.-Location:Chemonie Plantion was situated on two separate tracts of land. The first tract was located between Centerville Road and the Monticello Road occupying a large...

 originally owned by George Noble Jones. In 1949, Ingalls and Ireland purchased the 14000 acres (57 km²) Foshalee Plantation

Foshalee Plantation

Foshalee Plantation was a large quail hunting plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States.First called Incochee, it was purchased in 1824 by Hezekiah and Ann Graham Ponder. Hezekiah and Ann are buried in a cemetery near U.S. 319....

.

Under the Ingalls, Ring Oak had a hog

Domestic pig

The domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...

 parlor with 300 head of hogs. Ring Oak, with Chemonie Plantation, had 1000 acre (404.7 ha) in corn in patches of 1 acre.

Location

Ring Oak borders Lake Miccosukee

Lake Miccosukee

Lake Miccosukee is a large swampy prairie lake in northern Jefferson County, Florida, USA, located east of the settlement of Miccosukee. A small portion of the lake, its northwest corner, is located in Leon County.-Characteristics:...

 on its east side. During its history, boundaries often changed when owners bought or sold land.

In 1967 Ring Oak was under sole ownership of Louise Ingalls and had two distinct sections which was not uncommon for plantations in Leon County. Currently Ring Oak is owned by the GEM land company of Tallahassee. Ring Oak's current size is around 6000 acre (2,428.1 ha).

Adjacent plantations in 1967:

• Woodfield Springs Plantation
  Woodfield Springs Plantation
  Woodfield Spring Plantation was a large quail hunting plantation in northern Leon County, Florida, United States.Woodfield Springs was owned by Gilbert W. Humphrey, an executive with the M.A. Hanna Company of Cleveland, Ohio serving as president of the company in 1960 and chairman of the board in...
  
   to the north
• Loveridge Plantation
  Loveridge Plantation
  Loveridge Plantation was a quail hunting plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States and established by George H. Love.Loveridge began as on the northwest corner of Lake Miccosukee. In 1956, Love acquired an additional of Sunny Hill Plantation from the estate of New Jersey...
  
  to the north