Historic Latta Plantation

A living history farm 20 miles north of Charlotte features an African American exhibit, virtual tour and history of this once cotton plantation, activities for kids, and teacher resources.

Preview your trip on the web: Historic Latta Plantation.

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• Documenting the American South Ten thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs for the study of Southern history, literature, and culture.
• Lesson plan: Learn about your county This activity will allow fourth grade students in North Carolina to learn more about the counties that surround their home county. Using online images, students will create a multimedia presentation to share with others.
• Lesson plan: Interpreting Diaries of the American South Students will read diaries of individuals who lived in the American South from 1865-1917. After reading these diaries the students will use a visual means of displaying their interpretation. Visual presentations will be one of the following: shadow box, poster, PowerPoint using drawings done by the student, brochure, or presenting an item that would have been used during the time that their diary was written.
• Antebellum homes and plantations A tour of some of North Carolina's historic houses and farms — big and small, rich and poor — from before the Civil War.
• Farms and plantations The great majority of free North Carolinians, rich and poor, lived and worked on farms before the Civil War. In this chapter, we’ll examine a variety of primary sources — from letters and diaries to recipes and novels — that show what life and work were like for these people.

Related pages

• Historic Stagville: Read about the history of the plantation, the Bennehan and Cameron families who owned the plantation, the slave community, the structures on the plantation, and the effect the Civil War had on Stagville Plantation.
• Managing a plantation: Slaves: List of slaves on the Cameron plantation in Orange County, North Carolina, 1844. Includes historical commentary.
• Mendenhall Plantation: A visit to the Mendenhall Plantation shows students that there were dissenters to slavery in antebellum North Carolina. Buildings on the property include the main house, an old school house, the Madison Lindsay House and Medical School, a spring house, and a barn. There is also a restored wagon that may have been used to help runaway slaves.

Related topics

• Learn more about African Americans, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, antebellum, historic sites, history, and slavery.

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The Latta Plantation was an early 19th century cotton plantation and is now a living history farm. In 1800 it was the home of James and Jane Knox Latta. Visitors experience what life was like for planters, slaves, and yeoman farmers of the North Carolina back country in the early 19th century, before the Civil War.

When visiting the website, you will find an African American exhibit that features many present day images of enactments, a history, and statistics of African Americans in the 1800’s such as census records and tax lists.

There is also a For Kids section with instructions for making old-fashioned toys and for playing games that children played in the 1800’s.

Teachers will find a virtual tour with images and information about the history of the plantation as well as resources that include information about visiting the farm, suggested readings, and quizzes.

Historic Latta Plantation is located in the 57 acre Latta Plantation Park which is located about 20 miles north of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. To schedule a visit, call 704-875-2312.

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