Enslaver Descendant Uses Eminent Domain to Attack Large Black-Owned Georgia Farm

A railroad company led by a descendant of a slave trader uses eminent domain to grab land from one of the largest black farms in Georgia.

In 2024, the Georgia Public Service Commission granted the Sandersville Railroad Company eminent domain authority acquire private land for a rail project that the company says will transport gravel from a nearby quarry, Capital B news reports. The company traces its ownership to a descendant of Andrew Benjamin Tarbutton, who brought slaves to Central Georgia in the 19th century to build his wealth.

Now, four generations later, the railroad is trying to take land from local farmers, including descendants of enslaved people, near the same area where that legacy began. Families along the proposed rail route say the move reflects a long history of land reclamation in this part of Georgia.

One of the properties targeted is a large, contiguous tract of land that has been owned for more than a century by the Smith family, descendants of enslaved people who once farmed the same land.

“This happened to be Black History Month, and we were looking at our culture and our heritage and how his grandparents and great-grandparents got this land,” said Diane Smith, a member of the Smith family.

“We are fighting a man whose wealth comes from slavery,” her husband Blaine added.

The battle unfolds in Sparta, one of Georgia’s poorest and most black communities. In its condemnation filing, Sandersville Railroad Company described the rail line as an economic development project that would reduce freight traffic for the city’s 1,800 residents.

But locals argue the plan will mainly benefit railroad owner Benjamin Tarbutton III and a small group of wealthy landowners who hope to eventually connect the rail to a larger route connected to the Port of Savannah.

“We are poor people here in Sparta,” said Janet Smith, Diane’s sister-in-law, who with her husband Mark helped establish a small farm on the family’s 600-acre estate. “We may not have money, but we are rich in spirit and love – and most of us are older.”

The landowners challenged the decision in Fulton County Superior Court, where a judge upheld the ruling but delayed construction while the case went to the Georgia Court of Appeals. At a Feb. 18 hearing, a three-judge panel heard arguments from both sides and the Georgia Public Service Commission, a decision that could determine whether the rail project moves forward or stalls.

The nonprofit Institute for Justice, which represents the landowners, said yes ready to take taking on the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

“This line will only benefit the Sandersville Railroad itself and a few customers, but the Georgia Constitution does not allow these types of acquisitions,” said Bill Mauer, an attorney with the Institute for Justice. “Georgian courts have never held that a closed system like the Hanson Spur constitutes a public use.”

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