Near this site stood Ardoch Plantation, home of the McDonald and Gignilliat families from colonial days through the Civil War, when it was sold to former slaves. During the Revolutionary War, the McDonalds were Loyalists, like many families of Coastal Georgia. In 1782, Patriot companies led by Captain Patrick Carr and Captain Samuel West deserted General Anthony Wayne's command and plundered St. Andrew's Parish. They murdered eleven Loyalists, including Ardoch's owner, Charles McDonald, who was killed in his own doorway in the presence of his wife and children, and the house was burned. The plantation was confiscated by the state but later returned to his widow.