Meet the Largest Landowners in Georgia

Key Points:

• Plum Creek, a lumber manufacturer, owns 750,000 acres. It has also recently merged with the Weyerhaeuser Company, which owns more than 12 million acres of land in Georgia.
• Holland Ware, a Hogansville homeowner and wood entrepreneur who was ranked as the 21st largest landowner in the country in 2017 rankings, owns 534,900 acres in Georgia.
• Imery’s Clays, Imery’s Kaolin, and Imery’s Marble is a leading manufacturer of kaolin (ball clay) that owns 39,481 acres of land in the state.

Land is a valuable asset, especially for farmers. The traditional adage about land is that “they don’t make any more of it.” The world’s entire land mass comprises 36.8 billion acres of habitable land. And interestingly, most of this property is controlled by a small group of landowners. Investing in rural, undeveloped land remains a favored option among the wealthy. Acreages continue to be purchased at reliable prices by leading land owners as a “safe deposit box with a view.” Georgia is well-known for its varied terrain and old plantations. It has a varied topography that ranges from the Appalachian Mountains in the northwest to the barrier islands and beaches along its Atlantic coast.

More than 100 wildlife management areas in the state offer over one million acres of hunting land where hunters can bag deer, duck, quail, and other game. While many people see property investments as a good way to get steady profits, some groups and individuals in Georgia have pushed it to the extreme. So, who are the largest landowners in Georgia, and how much land do they own? This article uncovers Georgia’s four largest landowners and other interesting facts.

The 3 Largest Landowners in Georgia

1. Plum Creek – 750,000 Acres

With 750,000 acres of timberland, Plum Creek, a corporation partnered with Weyerhaeuser Company, is Georgia’s largest private landowner. Until it merged with Weyerhaeuser Company, Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. was a timberland owner and manager and forest products, mineral extraction, and property development company. 

Plum Creek Timber manufactures softwood lumber such as common and select boards, studs, edge-glued boards, and finger-jointed studs. These goods are intended for repair and remodeling projects by domestic lumber sellers, such as retail home centers. These items are also marketed to stocking wholesalers for use in homebuilding. The corporation also extracts minerals, produces natural gas, and manages communication and transportation rights of way.

On the other hand, Weyerhaeuser is an American timberland company that owns nearly 12,400,000 acres of timberland in the United States and manages an additional 14,000,000 acres of timberland under long-term licenses in Canada. The company also manufactures wood products and operates as a real estate investment trust.

2. Holland Ware – 534,900 Acres

Holland Ware owns 534,900 acres of land, most of which is in Florida and Georgia. Ware donated a large portion of his assets to the Holland M. Ware Charitable Foundation, which supports a variety of causes, including cancer research and the humane treatment of animals.

Holland Ware, a Hogansville homeowner and wood entrepreneur, was ranked as the 21st largest landowner in the country in the Winter 2018 issue of The Land Report 100, the same place he held in the Winter 2017 issue. The Land Report 100 lists the top private landowners in the United States, highlighting people who have collected significant amounts of land. Ware is mentioned as having 534,900 acres of land scattered across numerous southern states in the Winter 2018 issue, up slightly from his 2017 total of 534,000. Ware, a descendant of pioneering Georgians, has amassed large stakes in southern timberland scattered over multiple states.

Unfortunately, the Hogansville native and philanthropist, whose financial contributions helped Coweta healthcare facilities expand to fulfill the local community’s needs, passed away on October 24, 2019, at age 82. Clark Johnson, Ware’s cousin and friend, stated that Ware’s dedication to the medical community remained even after his death.

3. Imery’s Clays – 39,481 Acres

Imery’s Clays, Imery’s Kaolin, and Imery’s Marble hold 39,481 acres of land in Georgia, valued at around $53 million. Imery’s is a major producer of kaolin, one of Georgia’s most valuable natural resources.

The company was born when the Rothschild family integrated part of their metals and mining assets into the Spanish company Pearroya in 1880. Over the next century, it focused on nonferrous metal extraction and processing, becoming one of the world’s mining extraction leaders. Imerys Clays, Inc. was established in 1979 and operates in the mining, processing, and preparation of kaolin or ball clay.

Ball clays are kaolinitic clays of 20–80% kaolinite, 10–25% mica, 6-65% quartz, and organic content. Ball clay is an exceedingly rare rock that can only be found in a few places across the world. It is highly valued as a basic material in the production of ceramics. 

Runner Up:

Ted Turner – 2.2 Million Acres (USA)

Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, owns more than 2 million acres of property, mostly in New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Georgia but the exact tally of land he owns in Georgia is unknown. Much of Turner’s acreage is used as grazing land for approximately 50,000 buffalo – the world’s largest private bison herd. He owns thousands of square miles of hunting land in Georgia and Montana in the United States. He also owns over 11,000 acres of land in Argentina’s Patagonia region.

A legendary American businessman, Ted Turner, built the Turner Broadcasting System, which launched CNN and several other networks before being sold to Time Warner for yet another Turner fortune. Turner is a self-proclaimed outdoorsman who purchased land to pursue his interests in fishing and hunting. Turner’s long-standing leadership as a land steward has been phenomenal, and his charity activities have been recognized time and again by some of the nation’s premier conservation organizations. 

For his penchant for outspoken remarks, Turner gained the titles “The Mouth of the South” and “Captain Outrageous.” Turner has also donated his fortune to environmental causes. He was the biggest private landowner in the United States until John C. Malone overtook him in 2011. Turner utilizes much of his land for ranches to re-popularize bison meat (for his Ted’s Montana Grill franchise), collecting the world’s largest herd. He also produced the environmental-themed cartoon series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

Summary of the 3 Biggest Landowners in Georgia

Here’s a recap of the top 3 owners of land in the state of Georgia:

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Gergely Zsolnai/Shutterstock.com