I live in Massachusetts and visited a friend in Charlotte a few weeks ago. He'd wanted to visit Stagville Plantation for a tour, so we took the drive. The woman who guided the tour was wonderful. I wish I knew her name - if she gave it, I didn't hear it. She started off by telling us that she would talk a little bit about the property and the buildings, but would focus mostly on the slaves who were held there, and what their daily lives were like. At no point did she seem like she had memorized a script. She spoke intelligently and knowledgeably, and really gave us a feel for what Stagville's enslaved people endured. She welcomed questions, and was very clear about what she knew, what she didn't know, and what she surmised. There were 2 people on the tour who, if I had been the guide, I would have wanted to slap. However, our guide handled their questions with tact... Our guide spoke about children being born into slavery on the plantation, and she said that the moment a baby drew their first breath, they were a slave. She said they were put to work at age 7, working from sunrise to sundown. Then she asked any children aged 7 or older to raise their hands, which they did. The guide said, "You would have been put to work at the age of 7," and one boy, around age 8 or 9, replied, "But I'm not black." (Yes, I wanted to slap him.) The guide replied, "No you're not. But I'm telling you about this so you can use your imagination to see what life might have been like." The second person I wanted to slap was a woman, probably in her 40s or 50s, who asked, "Were the slaves treated well?" (Do you see why I wanted to slap her? Does she not understand what slavery was?) The guide replied that she should be able to tell from the information being given on the tour, but that we would get back to that question later. Near the end of the tour, the guide asked the woman, 'What was your question again?" and the woman replied, again, "Were the slaves treated well?" The guide asked other people taking the tour for their opinions, and everyone was pretty clear with their responses. The guide handled it like a champ. All in all, this was a very informative, well planned tour about a horrible time in our history. I would highly recommend it. read more

This entrance is only for the visitor center guests, bathroom and few pictorials to look at. The site is huge, comprised of several land spaces that require driving to and from. Highly recommend going in at 1pm where there is a tour. If you go alone without a guide all you see is the buildings and just grass... Wish we knew ahead of time a bit more of this laidback type historic area where we met only one person in charge and she's already occupied with 2 other ppl explaining its history behind a desk. read more

Stagville Historic - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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I majored in history so decided to visit the site. I'm from the West and am very informed about civil war history. I looked forward to the tour of the plantation but what I received was a very woke diatribe about "enslaved" people and "enslavers". History, like it or not is giving the facts and not trying to use words to be politically correct. The blacks here were "slaves", NOT enslaved people. The owners were "masters" and NOT enslavers. Let's keep the politics and liberal narrative out and just give the facts. Also, they only accept cards and no cash. Cash is legal tender everywhere....but not here. I was terribly disappointed with the whole experience and left early. I was looking for historical information but what was given was a liberal sappy "victim" story. We can't change history whether we agree with it or not. No one is saying slavery was good but it is still a part of our history and should be told accurately.... Skip this place and find a better plantation where they are interested in giving factual information. There was little about the running of the planation, life in antebellum NC etc... read more

Since the schools have decided not teach black history I decided to teach it to my children myself. We booked a tour and headed here. This was an amazing yet emotional tour. We learned so much about the slaves that lived on this plantation and about the Cameron family. We did not have a chance to visit the hiking trail but we will come back! read more

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What you will see here is what's left of a plantation site where slaves were kept and the artifacts of abandoned buildings. What you won't see is the torturous way in which they surely suffered by the daily rigors of being treated as such. We happened upon this place by pure accident. Never knew it existed. We arrived too early for the first guided tour at 11, so we did the self guided tour. I'm sure the guided tour is worth waiting for and filled with much more historical facts than just looking at the buildings. Walking through the area near the visitors section is a slave foundation, a kitchen foundation, the Bennehan (owners) house and a cemetery. You then drive a short distance up the road to where what's left of the great barn, Horton grove, and a nature preserve with walking trails. The Bennehan and Cameron families owned at least 900 slaves. Hopefully places like this will allow our children to see the errors of mans ways and may history never repeat the horrible way humans treat others. read more

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With all the active protest movements and renewed interest in black history and the celebration of Juneteenth, I decided to find somewhere in the area to learn more about the history of slavery in North Carolina. I came across Stagville while browsing online and decided to check it out! I've been in the area and have checked out many NC historic sites but had never heard of this one. Apparently, it was one of the largest plantations in North Carolina with 30,000 acres spanning 5 counties. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the buildings are currently closed to the public but they were still offering guided tours of the site at 11, 1 and 3 Tuesday through Saturday. There are two sections of the site, one where the visitors center and main house is, the other down Old Oxford Road where there are still standing slave quarters, a barn and other buildings. (Note that if you take the tour, you'll have to hop in your car to drive to the other site to finish the tour) Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions about the history of the site, both before slavery and after slavery, and also answered a few other general questions about race and slavery in North Carolina. I think the tour was supposed to be an hour but it ended up being an hour and a half with all the interest we had in the site. I'll need to come back when the buildings are actually open. read more

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Very nice site, we'll be back. The guided tours are only at 11, 1 am 3 Tuesday through Saturday. Not wanting to wait for 50 more minutes, we decided to come back. We're looking forward to it! 30,000 acres was the original plantation size. read more

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I love places of the past, we should learn all we can. Stagville tells of the heroine stories of the slave.

The first time we toured, there was a lot of information about the plantation, house, family and the slaves. That last time we visited, the presentation was almost solely about the slaves. House was closed off and there was little information about all aspects of the plantation. read more

Great history here but most of it was closed & it had recently rained so we weren't able to see much unfortunately, everything was closed down. We may go back again when everything opens up. read more

Had some extra time to kill on the way to Franklin, NC and I really wanted to do a haunted something. Biltmore Estates was far too expensive being a last minute thing. I read some tidbits about apparitions appearing around Stagville, so I thought, what the heck. I called ahead, because I wasn't sure of tour times or group sizes. Tours are held on the hour every hour, last one at 3pm. My family and I happened to be the only people for the noon tour that day, but I was 100% fine with that. Our tour guide was an intern and she did a pretty good job of giving us the history of the Bennehan family and plantation and answering what few questions we had. The only one she really couldn't answer was about the supposed hauntings. Said she had a few other people ask her about that, but she really didn't know anything. Darn! Moved on to the slave quarters, which are about a half mile or so up the road. Fyi. :) We followed her up there in the car. The slave quarters, I read, are where people have seen the apparitions. The building we walked around has a fireplace and I thought it was especially interesting that some of the bricks have fingerprint molds from when the slaves built it. Last was the stables which was also up the road a little. Massive building with more interesting history behind it. The tour ends there, but I say make your way back where you started in the visitor's building and pick up some old fashioned candy canes or cookbooks. And don't forget to leave a small donation -the tour is free after all! read more

Stagville Historic - The Bennehan house. - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I'm a homeschool mom who joined a group of other homeschool families at Stagville for a field trip today. Although we've lived in the area for many years, we've never been to the plantation, and I was excited to go. When we arrived, I noticed The 1619 Project book as well as other books dealing with racial equality for sale in the lobby and should have known what the guided tour would entail. I'm actually surprised Stagville is allowed to still exist in light of today's culture. Disappointingly, the vast majority of the talk from our docent dealt with the living conditions of the enslaved peoples on the property. Truly, the practice of slavery was the main topic of the tour with our guide saying that the most meaningful artifact unearthed from the plantation was a shell that originated in east Africa and represents the currency, religion, or future hopes of an African enslaved there. Only mentioned in passing and in reference to the overseeing of the enslaved people was the fact that Mr. Bennehan had left the plantation for some time to serve in the militia during the Revolutionary War. What other impacts the Bennehan and Cameron families had beyond those dealing with slavery remain a mystery. Slavery is a blight on American history, and obviously much of southern industry grew out of the plantation-slavery system. It was an evil, disgusting practice that our nation eventually fought a bloody war to end. No one in our group would argue this. But surely there is something that historic Stagville can offer to visitors beyond moralizing the evils of slavery. Did the families who lived there contribute anything to the economy, development, industry, or culture of the area we all now live in? Were they anything else beyond slaveholders? Our guide's disdain for the Bennehan and Cameron families was overt, and her word choices often centered on race, where even references to non-slave holding farming families was "free white farmers". In all, I found the experience disappointing and unfruitful, and if I ever go again, I'd rather take a self guided tour to go back in time and see life in this corner of the world as it was without the 1619 "this white family profited off the labor of enslaved people" verbiage and focus. read more

This was an amazing guided look back in history to the time of Slavery in the south. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the history and construction of the farm. There was an excellent historical presentation on slavery in the main building. The main house, great barn and slave's quarters really brought to life what life was like on the plantation for owners and slaves alike. read more

Stagville Historic - Stagville slave house. - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I had a nice time at Historic Stagville last Friday night. They hosted "Stagville Under the Stars" with Morehead Planetarium staff from UNC. It was a great place to host this event, since Historic Stagville is north of Durham, away from the city lights. It was a fun and informative program. I hope they do more events like this! read more

If you're looking for a meaningful and historic visit, plan it elsewhere. I traveled from the other side of the country for the express purpose of touring this site, but I was thoroughly disappointed. After searching the website and calling the office, I received misinformation that would have saved me time and $80 in Uber fare. I arrived early for the 11:00 am guided tour (along with about eight other people), only to be told that we would have to tag along with a 4th grade school group for the second half of the tour (as their tour began at 10:00 am). When I called the day prior, I wasn't told that the 11:00 tour wouldn't happen as scheduled. The staff also doesn't tell visitors that you need to drive to the site to be able to participate in the full guided tour. NO, they don't have a van for visitors. And, self tours are extremely limited...you cannot look inside the buildings, nor can you walk along the roads to access the buildings on the other part of the grounds, which are germane to the tour. After asking the tour guide about what to do, the answer was simply that we could not walk to the other buildings. No consolation regarding the effort to get there, no apologies; I and the other person in my party were just left behind near the Visitor's Center, in an isolated area on plantation grounds in the woods. The tour guide was nonchalant and rude, as she simply walked away without seeming to care about circumstances. Maybe working for a state park, which happens to be a historic plantation, has thoroughly possessed the thoughts and actions of the staff. As an African American I was extremely offended. I didn't find the North Carolinians here to be kind or welcoming. I understand that the site relies upon donations to help operations, but maybe, just maybe, fares could be charged for van rides on the grounds. OR, maybe the website should be expressly clear about visitors needing a car to fully participate in the guided tours. Ultimately, the website is somewhat misleading and should be updated to reflect the reality of daily operations. read more

Great tour. Focus is on the enslaved people who lived there and not on the plantation owners, and gives you a healthy dose of reality. I really enjoyed it. read more

I hate to give a NC historic site such a low review, but man...I had an awful experience (which was all the more painful given the 50-minute drive from Raleigh to get there). Stagville has been on my "Triangle To Do" list for years--but it is pretty far out into the country (10 miles north of Durham, Butner is the biggest small town nearby), so it took me a while to find an occasion to make it up there (especially given that they're only open 10-4 and closed on Sundays). Well, I was hiking on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail near Falls Lake and figured this was my chance! I was only 25 minutes away. I verified that they had hourly tours on my phone and headed over (by the way--both my GPS and Google Maps had it in the wrong location, but it was well-marked so I found it just fine). You travel on a gravel road towards the main plantation house and the visitor's center. I got to the visitor's center around 2:55pm, interested in either a tour or just exploring on my own. I was immediately asked if I wanted the tour, so I said "sure." Unbeknownst to me, it was a special Civil War Tour (I double checked and the website does mention it, but it's in some scrolling text that hadn't appeared when I accessed the site on a mobile device). Anyway, a lot of the other tour attendees also seemed surprised that it wasn't the normal tour. Well, I purchased a ticket (no one clearly explained that I could visit the sites without a tour). The main plantation house is by the visitor's center; to get to the other sites (slave quarters, barn), you have to follow a worker by vehicle to another gravel road across the street. You then park on the grassy lawn of another house (no one ever explained to me what it was), and can tour the barn and slaves' quarters (and possibly the mystery house?). Well, due to the large group, we didn't all make it over to the other site until 3:20pm. Despite all the waiting, no one mentioned that the house by the visitor's center was open to us, would not be included on our tour, and would be closed after the tour. The tour was really bad--and this is coming from an adult who majored in history, served as a docent/tour guide who dressed up and gave historical presentations at a site in Charlotte, is from NC (as I assume most of the attendees to the site are), and generally has a long attention span. The historical interpreter was nice, and he was trying, but it all just didn't come tother. There were at least 8 children under the age of 8 on the tour; many were running around (and the ones that weren't looked extremely bored). I assume the tours get children a lot, and I was surprised that the guide seemingly had no idea how to interact with them. And the Civil War tour only visited ONE building out of the many on the site--it visited the slave quarters, but skipped the main plantation house, the barn, and other structures that weren't even mentioned/pointed out on the tour (I was really disappointed by that--the buildings were closed by the time the tour finished, despite the signs on the site that said the park was open until 5pm). So, the hour-long tour stood outside for the whole time with a tour guide--dressed in union Civil War clothing--reading from a piece of paper and showing some visual aids. He first read long period quotes and then went back and explained the quotes in modern English. It was a bit boring, but my main complaint is that the tour wasn't very geared towards Stagville--the site we were visiting!! About 60% of the information was about the Civil War generally, 20% on the Cameron family (plantation owners), and 20% on Stagville. We had to constantly ask questions about Stagville to get basic questions about the plantation answered--like when it was built, how far it extended, etc.--since none of that was to be included in the tour. That's despite the fact that 90% of the people on the tour raised their hands as first-time visitors when asked. Also, the information provided was confusing and disorganized. For example, the website says it closes at 4pm, signs there say it closes at 5pm--which is it? If it wasn't so far away, I'd go back to take a regular tour--or even just go into the buildings that weren't included on the tour I attended. But I'm unlikely to make it out there again because of the limited hours and rural location. The bottom line: this could be nice if you're in the area, but don't go out of your way for it--there are so many other historic sites in the area that give you better information and are more pleasant (e.g., Moredecai Park, Joel Lane Museum House, or Historic Oak View County Park in Raleigh; Bennett's Place or West Point on the Eno in Durham). read more

I took a friend from out of town here on a tour and it was surprisingly good. Our tour guide was late 20s/early 30s social studies teacher who volunteered there and he was excellent. None of the "these were the good ol' days of the south' weirdness that I was expecting. A straight-forward histrical tour with interesting tidbits interspersed. I'm taking my parents here soon and I hope its just as good. read more

Most plantation or historic home tours focus on the family that owned the property; Stagville's tour emphasizes the experience and achievements of enslaved people. This crucial perspective is woven throughout the tour, from where enslaved servants stood in the household and what they would have heard to the skills of enslaved artisans and how they transformed communities after the Civil War. The site's thesis revolves around the impact of a culture of slavery on individuals, and how we still grapple with these issues today. I was just trying to kill time before a flight, but I stumbled into an excellent experience. read more

Went to Stagville at noon on a 65 degree Saturday afternoon to find it all locked up and nobody on site. Updating the website to true hours would be great for those of us traveling 45 minutes to visit! read more

This is a very interesting look at plantation life. It doesn't just cover what took place at the plantation house but the lives of the slaves that served that house. I have been to this historic site twice. Had a different guide both times. Both were so knowledgeable and so interesting. I highly recommend this tour. read more