McLeod Plantation Historic Site

All of their stories - black and white, enslaved and free - are given their due. After years of careful research and restoration, McLeod Plantation Historic Site invites you to explore the lives of people who, though nearly erased from history, shaped Charleston’s complex past and the nation’s future.

• Tour the homes and compare the McLeod family home with those built for enslaved families.
• Learn about daily life and the relationships among the men, women, and children who lived and worked here before and after slavery.
• Study the cultivation and importance of sea island cotton.
• Gain insight into the plantation’s strategic importance during the Civil War and the role of the free black Massachusetts 55th Volunteer Infantry in emancipating enslaved people.
• Examine the influence of the Freedmen’s Bureau at McLeod Plantation and throughout the South.
• Trace the emergence of Gullah Culture in the Lowcountry.
• Explore worship and spirituality in the lives of McLeod Plantation’s residents.
• Draw parallels between the changing relationships among McLeod Plantation’s residents and in American society during the 20th century.
• See how people dramatically changed the natural history of the plantation’s landscape through time.

It is a place like no other, not frozen in time but vibrant, dynamic, and constantly evolving. It is a living tribute to the men and women and their descendants that persevered in their efforts to achieve freedom, equality and justice.