1847
A family settles
Following the War of 1812, Joseph McKee White set out with his family and a few workers from his home in South Carolina, traveling through central Georgia on his way toward Mississippi. According to family lore, White was so impressed with the fertility of the soils of Laurens and Pulaski counties that he ended his search and settled along the line dividing the two counties.
1850
Whitehall is built
White and his wife built the great house, Whitehall, on a hill where the road from Haskins Crossings to Cochran bends. Designed by an English architect named Sessions, the 16-column house is built from heart pine, held together with drawn nails and wooden pegs, with 15-foot ceilings. Before the Civil War the plantation spanned some 22,000 acres — one of Georgia's largest strictly agricultural plantations.
1861
Feeding the South
Joseph McKee White was commissioned a major in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States. Rather than fight, it was felt he could better serve by raising food for the armies of the South.
1956
A birthday present
The White family sold Whitehall to Mr. & Mrs. John Richard Staley of Chicago. Mr. Staley, president of Quaker Oats, presented it to his wife Carol as a birthday present. The Staleys began renovating the Big House with modern wiring, heating and plumbing.
1966
A complete restoration
Architect Jackson O. Lamb of Montrose bought out his fellow investors and undertook a major restoration, adding crown moldings, ceiling medallions and imported chandeliers.
1970
The Cannon years
Lamb sold to Henry Cannon, a longtime executive with the Georgia Forestry Commission, and his wife Martha, who continued improving Whitehall inside and out.
1982
Back in the family
William K. (Bill) Holmes, great-great grandson of the original owner, purchased the property and much of the original plantation land, improving the grounds.
2004
The Bradbury family
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas L. Bradbury purchased Whitehall and renovated and restored the Big House and property into the 21st century.
2014
Sodmasters begins
Whitehall's first turfgrass sod fields were planted — the beginning of Sodmasters.
2021
Growing beyond Georgia
Sodmasters purchased 900 acres in Bennettsville, SC for sod production, and Sodmasters Landscape Center opened in Woodstock, GA.
2022
First Carolina harvest
The first turfgrass sod was harvested in South Carolina, and work began on a Tennessee farm.