FEATURE
Beyond the Big House:
Contextualizing Interpretation at a Former Plantation
The Holly Bend House in Cowan’s Ford Nature Preserve is one of nearly 50 historic sites within Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s inventory. Photo by Kevin Metcalf.
Introduction
Historic plantation sites are experiencing a “changing tide” with the emerging national imperative for these sites to tell the entire story of what happened there, rather than curated, nostalgic stories tied to the “big house” and largely focused on the experiences of white slaveowners. While historic sites such as Williamsburg and Monticello have included information about the experiences of enslaved workers for years, this has not been the case at all sites. Information gaps in interpretation that exclude the experiences of the enslaved became particularly glaring in the wake of events related to George Floyd’s murder and the ongoing activism of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
With this article, we will tell the story of the reimagination of the Latta Place Historic Site in Huntersville, North Carolina, within the context of this national shift. With the temporary closure of the site in 2021 in response to the former operator’s interpretive choices, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation (Charlotte, North Carolina) staff were provided with an opportunity for interpretation relevant to national issues highlighting the persistence of historic injustices. The COVID-19 pandemic along with the enduring impact of the Black Lives Matter movement contributed to the creation of a unique sociopolitical environment conducive to investment in inclusive historic interpretation.
Latta Place is located within Latta Nature Preserve in Huntersville, North Carolina, just north of Charlotte. Photo by Chris Matthews/Leigh Anne Carter.
Geographic Context
Latta Nature Preserve
Latta Nature Preserve is a +1,550-acre nature preserve property resting along the banks of Mountain Island Lake. Built in 1924 on the Catawba River, this reservoir is the Charlotte region’s primary source for drinking water. Purchased by the County in 1974, the interest in this area was due to its high-quality forested habitat, watershed protection, and as a wildlife refuge. The property was originally named Latta Plantation Park but soon thereafter was upgraded to a nature preserve property due to the natural resources and land management needs. In 2018, the Department decided to drop the word “Plantation” from the name to make it more broadly accessible to the public. Latta Nature Preserve encompasses Historic Latta Place, which is a small, ten-acre enclave within the nature preserve and has served as a habitat of choice for indigenous people from prehistoric times up through precolonial times, primarily due to its proximate location to the Catawba River.
RIGHT: The front of the program for the official opening of Latta Plantation Park in October 1981.
Hopewell Plantation District
Latta Nature Preserve, and therefore the historic site, is located within the Hopewell Plantation District in northern Mecklenburg County. The Hopewell Plantation District refers to an area in northwest Mecklenburg County that housed other plantations along the Catawba River, such as Holly Bend and Rural Hill. The plantations were centered around a regional church called Hopewell Presbyterian Church. This church is remarkable in that there is evidence that it was racially inclusive and held many of the records for the area. Thus, rich interpretive opportunities are embedded in a network of former plantations across this region.
RIGHT: Latta Place is embedded in a network of former plantation sites across northern Mecklenburg County’s Hopewell District. “The Plantation World Around Davidson” by Chalmers Gaston Davidson. Mecklenburg Historical Association, 1969.
2021: Imagining Possibilities
Juneteenth 2021 & Latta Partners Group
In June of 2021, Historic Latta Place Inc., a 501c(3) that had operated the site since it opened in the 1970s, offered a controversial special event titled “Kingdom Coming,” scheduled to occur on Juneteenth. The program description advertised via social media and on the Latta Place website paints a picture of freed slaves enjoying life in the “big house” after driving “massa” out into the woods—a fictionalized account not based in any factual, historic data and also reinforcing a problematic but unsubstantiated notion of black hostility. The advertised program made national and international news and drew ire from local elected officials and advocacy groups. It also concerned County leadership, who made the decision not to renew Historic Latta Place, Inc.’s lease on the property and instead took over operations of the site effective July 1, 2021.
Given that the County had never operated a historic site before, leaders made the decision to reopen the site only after careful consideration of best practices for interpretation of such a site, as well as extensive community input. To this end, the Latta Partners group formed in the fall of 2021, consisting of representatives from local universities, museums, and advocacy groups including the NAACP. This advisory group began to meet monthly to discuss possibilities for the site.
The first step was to adopt a mission statement based on a shared vision and community values. For this, County staff reviewed literature related to working with the descendants of enslaved Africans as well as rethinking traditional operations at historic plantation museums. Based on this work, a list of potential values was generated, and partners as well as the public were able to vote on which of these values best captured their beliefs around the ideals that should undergird interpretation at Latta.
Community members and partners selected the following five values: Truth, Transparency, Compassion, Transformation, and Unity. The finalized mission statement is below:
Latta Place Community partners and Mecklenburg County staff at the Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana. Photo by Whitney Plantation Staff.
We believe it is our duty to tell the truth. We resolve to practice transparency in all that we do. We are dedicated to providing:
- A transformational and engaging experience featuring holistic storytelling filled with truth and empathy
- An educational experience, giving voice to a multitude of historical perspectives
- A bridge between the past and the present through historic interpretation
- An essential resource to the residents of the greater Charlotte/Mecklenburg community and beyond
- A visit that inspires self-examination and application of knowledge
- A hub for the promotion of historic research and peer-reviewed scholarship
- A welcome to all visitors with the intent of fostering dignity, while respecting the natural environment in which Latta Place is located.
2022: Doing Our Homework
Benchmarking & Interpretive Master Plan
One of the group’s major priorities was to learn about what other former plantation sites were doing to interpret history and assess alignment of those sites with the group’s mission and values. As part of this effort, a group of approximately fifteen staff and partners traveled to more than twenty former plantation sites and museums across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Listed below are a few key takeaways from these visits:
- Move Beyond the “Big House.” Telling an authentic and comprehensive story about life on a cotton or rice plantation during the 1800s means interpreting the entire landscape. This work can be challenging when outbuildings including cabins for the enslaved have not been preserved; however, it is a critical step to ensuring the experiences of all who lived at the plantation are shared. Regarding the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana, one partner remarked, “I liked that interpretation focused on the entire place rather than just the ‘big’ house. The house can only be romanticized and whitewashed.”
- It’s the Interpreter. Partners and staff reflected on the wide variance in experiences based on the interpreter’s courage to tackle the tough conversations and to engage with visitors in a compassionate yet truthful manner. A community partner shared her experience, “Our tour guide was very talkative. He talked a lot about himself and his perspective, which was problematic. It shows why it’s a problem to have a white person running the conversation without a person of color there.”
- The Conversation is Critical. Group members agreed that, while historic facts are important, it’s even more important to reflect on what this information means with other visitors. This shared processing can inspire collective action and help participants make sense of difficult topics. As one group member shared, “The negative in the self-tour was we didn’t have an opportunity to interact with one another. It kept us in our own worlds. I missed conversations like ‘What is your interpretation? What is your perspective?’”
Participants gather at a listening session in 2022. Feedback from these sessions informed the Interpretive Master Plan for Latta Place. Photo by Christine Edwards/Civility Localized.
The benchmarking visits and related reflections formed the basis for the initiation of an interpretive master plan in 2022. This plan, completed with the assistance of The Design Minds consultancy, highlighted five key themes:
- Perspectives of the Enslaved: First and foremost, interpretation at the site will focus on the experiences of those who worked under forced conditions. It is the belief of the Latta partners group that their story has been underexplored and so, to ensure a comprehensive interpretation of the site, their perspectives must be prioritized.
- Inequality Reflected in the Built Environment: Historic sites are so compelling because they are place-based lessons in social and economic matters. Visitors can see the legacy of these interactions inscribed into the built environment through, for example, the variation in size between the main house and cabins, the placement of the main house to ensure surveillance of enslaved workers, and the large size of the plantation that meant the 34 individuals enslaved there must have worked backbreaking hours to complete a harvest.
- Utilizing Natural Resources: Historic Latta Place is located within a nature preserve. Today, careful planning and management help to ensure its protection. However, the site has always been a source of human sustenance, from Indigenous peoples such as the Catawba Nation to plantation owners such as the Lattas.
- Indigenous Perspectives & Experiences: Telling the complete story of the land surrounding Latta Place requires going back in time to learn about the impact of the site’s original inhabitants, the Catawba Nation. The County is partnering with several local groups to tell their story as part of the site’s interpretation.
- Lasting Legacies: As is reflected in the site’s mission statement, the preservation and interpretation of historic sites in Mecklenburg County allows residents to understand the past and work toward healing. The legacy of chattel slavery still impacts County residents today, as Black people have continued to endure racist policies, practices, and cultural representations.
Community Engagement: MeckRoots
Engagement with the community has been an ongoing process since the beginning of the project. This engagement has taken different forms, including focus groups, surveys, listening sessions and, most recently, mobile history programming through the MeckRoots initiative.
MeckRoots grew out of the desire to intentionally engage with descendants of the Latta site, and other former plantations throughout the Hopewell region. In an effort to meet potential descendants and other community elders in their space, Park and Recreation partnered with the Department of Social Services to offer a variety of historic programming to seniors during daily Senior Nutrition programs. Programming includes lectures, book clubs, writing classes, and living history—all with the goal of inspiring seniors to share their own stories. In Fiscal Year 2024, MeckRoots served more than 3000 participants.
Participants in the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services senior wellness program pose with Lakeetha Blakeney, a local actor who provides living history programs as part of MeckRoots. Photo by Liz Morrell.
2023-2024: Grounding the Vision
Draft concept of the interpretive trail that will surround Latta Place when the project is complete. Photo by Agency Landscape + Planning.
With the completion of the interpretive master plan, Historic Latta Place received $11M in capital funding for site improvements to accommodate programming and interpretation. The County has contracted with Agency Landscape + Planning to complete a site concept design that ensures a complete and accurate story is told at Latta through intentional design decisions. One of these is to decenter the “Big House,” to amplify the stories of those living on the rest of the plantation. A loop trail will take visitors through the nature preserve and along the banks of Mountain Island Lake. This interpretive trail will feature programming and signage corresponding with themes from the master plan.
Additionally, work at Latta has opened the door for additional historic interpretation across the Park and Recreation system. Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation has nearly fifty historic sites within its inventory, including a historic chapel, stadium, several recreation centers, and two additional former plantations. The Park and Recreation Historic and Cultural Resources Plan, completed in 2024, prioritizes investment at each site based on its physical condition and interpretive potential.
The Holly Bend House in Cowan’s Ford Nature Preserve is one of nearly 50 historic sites within Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s inventory. Photo by Kevin Metcalf.
In addition to an interpretive trail, Historic Latta will receive a new visitor center, enhanced wayfinding throughout the site, and significant infrastructural upgrades that will ensure the site is accessible to the public for years to come. Groundbreaking for the visitor center is expected to occur in early 2025, with a site reopening projected for 2027. Mecklenburg County staff are excited to share the outcome of this very important journey and to engage with the public on this difficult conversation. This is just the beginning of a permanent commitment to telling all the stories of our local history and elevating the diverse people that created our vibrant community fabric.
