Observe plantation life where "homecomings" began

Visit Somerset Place in the coastal town of Creswell for a realistic view of 19th-century life on a North Carolina plantation. More than 900 people over three generations lived and worked on the property, which became one of the state’s most prosperous rice, corn and wheat plantations. Long after the end of the plantation system and the sale of Somerset, Dorothy Redford spent 10 years finding Somerset’s slaves and their families. In 1986, she pioneered the idea of and nationally publicized the first Somerset Homecoming that brought together more than 2,000 descendants of the plantation. Today, Somerset Place stands as a historical landmark celebrating the history and heritage of all people who helped build the American South. Tour the grounds to explore archaeological remains of the plantation and experience representations of lives and lifestyles of the plantation’s entire antebellum community. Buildings such as the plantation hospital and enslaved family homes have been reconstructed to take you back to the time of the thriving plantation in the 1800s.