Descendant Of Enslaver Uses Eminent Domain To Target Major Black-Owned Georgia Farm

Families along the proposed rail route say the move reflects a long history of land extraction in this part of Georgia.

A railroad company led by a descendant of an enslaver is using eminent domain to take land from one of Georgia’s largest Black-owned farms.

In 2024, the Georgia Public Service Commission granted Sandersville Railroad Company eminent domain authority to acquire private land for a rail project the company claims 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 enslaved people to central Georgia in the 1800s to build his wealth.

Now, four generations later, the railroad is seeking 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 extraction in this part of Georgia.

One of the targeted properties is a large, continuous tract owned for more than a century by the Smith family, descendants of enslaved people who once worked the same land.

“This happens 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’re fighting against a man whose wealth came from slavery,” her husband, Blaine, added.

The battle is unfolding in Sparta, one of Georgia’s poorest and most heavily Black communities. In its condemnation filing, Sandersville Railroad Company described the rail spur as an economic development project that would cut down truck traffic for the town’s 1,800 residents.

But locals argue the plan mainly benefits railroad owner Benjamin Tarbutton III and a small group of wealthy landowners hoping to eventually link the track 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 helped build a small farm operation with her husband, Mark, on the family’s 600-acre property. “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 kept construction on hold as the case advanced to the Georgia Court of Appeals. During 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 railroad project moves forward or remains stalled.

The nonprofit Institute for Justice, which is representing the landowners, said it is ready to take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

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