Ashantilly

A small yellow cinderblock building on the grounds of the Ashantilly Center in Darien, Georgia houses the Ashantilly Press. Here volunteers from the Ashantilly Center have revived this historic letterpress printshop. 
Ashantilly is an enchanted place on the shores of the marsh. Spanish moss hangs from the live oaks and a dirt road leads to the house. Next door is St. Andrews Cemetery where wealthy Georgia planter Thomas Spalding, the original owner of Ashantilly, is buried with his family. Spalding owned a large plantation on Sapelo Island and hundreds of slaves who toiled there to grow sea island cotton and rice; their labor made his fortune. He built Ashantilly in 1820 as his mainland home.
The original tabby home burned in 1937, and the current house was restored by William Haynes, Jr. and his family. Bill Haynes was an artist and environmentalist. He took up letterpress printing and launched the Ashantilly Press in 1956. The press produced books, maps, posters and stationery. In 1993 the Haynes family established the non-profit Ashantilly Center, an educational and cultural historic site. Haynes died in 2001. The Center reopened the letterpress printshop in 2009 to carry on Haynes' work. 
For more information or to arrange your own visit to Ashantilly Center, see  https://ashantillycenter.org