Somerset Place is a former plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 near Creswell

Creswell, North Carolina

Creswell is a town in Washington County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 259 at the 2008 census.-Geography:Creswell is located at ....

 in Washington County

Washington County, North Carolina

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 13,723 people, 5,367 households, and 3,907 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 people per square mile . There were 6,174 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, along the northern shore of Lake Phelps, and now a State Historic Site. Somerset Place operated as a plantation from 1785 until 1865. Before the end of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Somerset Place had become one of the Upper South's largest plantations.

In 1969, Somerset Place was designated as a State Historic Site. In 1986, descendants of African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 slaves

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 from Somerset Place planned a gathering known as Somerset Homecoming. The event was inspired by a book titled "Somerset Homecoming" written by the property's current manager Dorothy Spruill Redford.

Visitors can tour the 1830s period plantation house, the dairy, kitchen/laundry, kitchen rations building, smokehouse

Smokehouse

A smokehouse is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.-History:...

 and salting

Salting (food)

Salting is the preservation of food with dry edible salt. It is related to pickling . It is one of the oldest methods of preserving food, and two historically significant salt-cured foods are dried and salted cod and salt-cured meat.Salting is used because most bacteria, fungi and other potentially...

 house. The site features several reconstructed buildings for the plantation's slaves, including two homes and the plantation hospital; the grounds include stocks

Stocks

Stocks are devices used in the medieval and colonial American times as a form of physical punishment involving public humiliation. The stocks partially immobilized its victims and they were often exposed in a public place such as the site of a market to the scorn of those who passed by...

 that were used to punish slaves.

The visitor center's exhibits display the history of the site and antebellum North Carolina. There is also a gift shop.

Nature trails lead to Pettigrew State Park

Pettigrew State Park

Pettigrew State Park is a North Carolina State Park in Tyrrell and Washington Counties, North Carolina in the United States. It covers around the shore lines of Lake Phelps and the Scuppernong River. The park's developed facilities are south of U.S. Route 64 near Roper and Creswell, North Carolina...

, which adjoins the site.

External links

• Somerset Place - official site
• An Historic Albemarle Tour Site