Somerset Place State Historic Site
About this property
Somerset Place is a former plantation near Creswell in Washington County, North Carolina, along the northern shore of Lake Phelps, and now a State Historic Site that belongs to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Somerset Place operated as a plantation from 1785 until 1865. Before the end of the American Civil War, 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 slaves from Somerset Place planned a gathering known as Somerset Homecoming. The event inspired a book titled "Somerset Homecoming" written by the property's former manager Dorothy Spruill Redford, who retired in 2008. Visitors can tour the 1830s period plantation house, the dairy, kitchen/laundry, kitchen rations building, smokehouse and salting house. The site features several reconstructed buildings for the plantation's slaves, including two homes and the plantation hospital; the grounds also include reconstructed stocks like those 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, which adjoins the site. Somerset place contained more than two thousand acres of farmland and another 125,000 acres of cypress and white cedar forests.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Somerset Place State Historic Site
This page lists Somerset Place State Historic Site. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
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Questions about this property
When was Somerset Place State Historic Site listed on the National Register?
Somerset Place State Historic Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 25, 1970.
What type of historic resource is Somerset Place State Historic Site?
Somerset Place State Historic Site is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Somerset Place State Historic Site?
The period of significance for Somerset Place State Historic Site is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Somerset Place State Historic Site?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Somerset Place State Historic Site will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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An Aubrey US report for an address near Somerset Place State Historic Site will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.