Somerset Place State Historic Site

A group of people sitting in a room listening to a women do the introduction to a guided tour.

Two men stirring a large cast iron pot full of black-eye peas.

Do you enjoy learning about NC history? Come work with us! We're hiring a new full-time Historic Interpreter. The job posting closes Wednesday, May 12, @ 5:00 pm. For more information and to apply, click the link below, and please help us spread the word about this job listing!
tinyurl.com/c6rwkd82

Yaupon Brothers Tea

Have you tried yaupon tea yet?! We sell this caffeinated tea in our gift shop, and it comes in American green, fire-roasted, and spiced peach flavors. Each cannister contains 16 teabags and costs $11.99. Stop by or call 252-797-4560 to order.

The doctor used a screw tourniquet to cut off circulation during an amputation in the enslaved hospital. A French surgeon named Jean-Louis Petit invented this device in the early 1700s and it remained in use through most of the nineteenth century.

Learn more below!

youtu.be/j9JhxTxf25M

Volunteers needed!

#Volunteer #Paint #History #HistoricSite #Outdoors

Never not thinking about these deer!

#Nature #NCDNCR #StatePark #Lake #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #History #HistoricSite #NCHistoricSites #NorthCarolina #NCParks #Animals #Deer #Lakeshore #AnimalVideo #NCNature

Correction: it closes Monday, May 12, at 5:00 pm.

Historical Interpreters working in the garden

Somerset Place workers making black-eyed peas

Historical interpreter giving a tour

Come work with us! We're hiring a new full-time Historic Interpreter. The job posting closes on Wednesday, August 19, at 5:00 pm. For more information and to apply, click the link below, and please help us spread the word about this job listing!

tinyurl.com/c6rwkd82

Spring Painting flyer

Looking for a way to get involved with Somerset Place? Join us Saturday, May 31, for a volunteer painting day. Volunteers help w/ painting fences around Somerset Place’s historic property. If you are interested in attending call (252)3796020 /email somerset@dncr.nc.gov to register.
#Volunteer

Bean Sprout

First the turnips sprouted, now the beans are coming up! Our garden is really taking off!

#Garden #Gardening #Beans #VegetableGarden #History #HistoricGarden #Vegetables #GrowYourOwnFood #FoodGarden #FoodGrowing #BeanStalk #BeanSprout #HistoricGardening #Organic #Plants

Today is #ViralVideoDay so we thought we’d bring back one of our most popular videos! This video was from the #ArchivesHashtagParty demonstrating the ASMR created by the Salting House door when we close up for the day.
#History #ViralVideo #ASMR

Somerset’s reconstructed Plantation Hospital contains a variety of old medicine bottles with unusual words on them. Here’s a sampling of some of these labels and their meanings!

For at least the first 5 years at Somerset Place, enslaved persons used a mortar & pestle to husk rice for consumption. Rice was the original cash crop, and the 80 enslaved West Africans forcibly brought to the plantation had knowledge of its cultivation.
Learn more below!
youtu.be/peZ5kGt5D

Turnip sprout

The turnips in our garden keep growing and growing!
#Turnips #Garden #Spring #Outdoors #Gardening #Vegetables #VegetableGarden #Veggies #Green #GrowYourOwnFood #YouGrowGirl #FoodGarden

Sycamore tree

Sycamore Tree

Sycamore Tree

American Elm trees

It’s #ArborDay! To celebrate, we are sharing with you some of the trees that Somerset Place staff have planted to restore the historic landscape.
#Trees #PlantATree #Tree #History #Landscape #Landscapes

New urban park in Winston-Salem will showcase freedom fight of enslaved Moravian A new urban park is coming to the Triad. Its roots date back to the 18th century, and an African American story that’s unique to Winston-Salem. The Single Brothers’ House in Old Salem was completed in...

2/2 farmed more than two centuries ago.”
Learn more about Peter Oliver and the planned park honoring him by reading the article below!
www.wfdd.org/story/new-ur...

Aerial image of Winston-Salem

1/2 “Each year, Peter Oliver’s many descendants gather to honor his life and their connection to his legacy. And his story may soon be celebrated year-round in a very public way. The planned Peter Oliver Pavilion Gallery, a new urban park, will be built on the same four-acre tract of land that he

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

#OTD in 1817 at a meeting in New Bern, Josiah Collins II was one of six laymen to help establish the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. Pictured is St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edenton, where the Collins family attended.
#History #OnThisDay #OnThisDayInHistory

Bee on flowers

Cypress tree

Pink flowers

Spider on a web

Happy Earth Day! In addition to important history, Somerset’s natural resources are on full display, especially this time of year. Come and visit us to spend some time connecting with nature!
#History #EarthDay #EarthDayEveryday #HappyEarthDay #Outdoors #Nature #Trees #Bees #Flowers #Wildlife #Bugs

Amanda Williams

3/3 ecological and anthropological exploration with a passion for culturally rooted storytelling and education. At Somerset, she is honored to preserve and share the stories of her ancestors while educating the public on the historical and cultural significance of the site.

Amanda Williams

2/3 With a B.A. in Biological Anthropology and a strong background in both science and museum education, Amanda has taught immersive science programs at institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History and Avenues: The World School. Her work blends her love for

Amanda Williams

1/3 Meet our new part-time historical interpreter! Amanda Williams is a part-time interpreter at Somerset Place Historic Site, where she brings history to life with deep reverence and personal connection—her own family are descendants of the enslaved community once held there.

Surgeons used a bistoury knife for opening internal organs. The device was heated over the hearth so it cauterized as it cut. While no longer in use today, this knife was a part of the doctor's surgical kit when he visited the plantation hospital.
Learn more below!
youtu.be/fVgxqSunx_E

Sycamore seedling

In the 1800s, there was a line of American sycamores behind the houses in the enslaved community. As part of ongoing efforts to restore the landscape, last fall we planted a sycamore behind the Judy & Lewis home. The seedling has survived the winter & is sprouting new leaves.
#History #Trees

Cast iron iron in front of the fireplace

Today is #NationalLaundryDay, so we are highlighting 2 of the women who served as enslaved laundresses at Somerset. Annette Baum & Rebecca Hortin were tasked with doing laundry for the Collinses & their guests. They also had to iron clothing using cast iron irons like this one.
#History #Laundry

‘We live in both worlds’: how teachers of Gullah Geechee herbal medicine are cultivating tradition Classes on herbalism connect new generations eager to explore their roots with elders in the South Carolina community

2/2 years, this ritual at the start of the annual Gullah Geechee herbal gathering on Johns Island, South Carolina, has served as a link between the living and the dead.”

Learn more about how the Gullah Geechee are preserving traditional herbal remedies below:

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ma...

”Baptism in community of Gullah descendants in North Carolina,” c.1935, courtesy of the New York Public Library

1/2 “With their eyes downcast in reflection, dozens of people dressed in white crossed a bridge to pay respect to their ancestors last October. They carried flowers, herbs and photos of their loved ones to lay at the foot of an altar on a tiny strip of land in the middle of a pond. For the last few

Image of the surrender at Appomattox Court House

2/2 This led to the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in America.
#History #OnThisDay

Image of the surrender at Appomattox Court House

1/2 #OTD in 1865, General Robert E. Lee & his Confederate troops surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant & his forces at Appomattox Court House. This surrender followed a disastrous Confederate defeat at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek.
#History #OnThisDay

😂

Gourd birdhouses sitting in front of a window

Spring is here, so make sure you have a place for the birds to nest by purchasing a handmade gourd birdhouse! They’re $11 + tax at our Visitor Center. Stop by or call 252-797-4560 to order.