Fodor's Expert Review Historic Latta Plantation

The last remaining Catawba River plantation open to the public, this living-history site interprets 19th-century farm life in North Carolina’s backcountry. James Latta, a traveling merchant, built the plantation’s Federal-style home in 1800 and soon became a cotton planter. According to family documents, the entire Latta family assisted with production on the 742-acre farm, but it would not have been possible to maintain the plantation without the back-breaking labor of more than 30 slaves. Today, visitors can tour the home as well as reconstructed slave quarters and a yeoman farmer’s home. Historically appropriate farm animals and special weekend programs, such as folk craft demonstrations, round out the experience.