‘Tis the season! The holidays are fast approaching, and we invite you to begin your season festivities with us at Somerset Place State Historic Site during our 31st Annual Christmas Open House Sunday, Dec. 5, from 1-4 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
Traditional holiday decorations of fresh natural and floral arrangements adorning the exterior and interior of site buildings will inspire visitors. Explore the plantation on a self-guided tour as staff members and volunteers will be available in each structure to answer questions. A costumed doctor from the mid-19th century will also be on hand to discuss antebellum medicine in the plantation hospital.
Savor black-eyed peas and hearth-cooked cornbread prepared from hand-ground corn. Sip delicious hot spiced tea and sample homemade desserts. Enjoy period Christmas music with instrumentalist Robert Waters of Columbia, N.C. For younger audiences, jolly Saint Nicholas will mingle with visitors from 2-4 p.m.
Somerset Place is a representative state historic site offering a comprehensive view of 19th-century life on a large North Carolina plantation. The plantation once encompassed more than 100,000 acres. Over its 80-year history, more than 861 enslaved African Americans developed, lived, and worked at Somerset.
For additional information, please call (252) 379-6020. Somerset Place is located at 2572 Lake Shore Road, Creswell. It is administered by the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state's natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. NCDNCR's mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state's history, conserving the state's natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.
NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, three science museums, three aquariums and Jennette's Pier, 41 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the N.C. Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, and the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please visit www.ncdcr.gov.