Washington County’s most
visited attraction is Somerset Place, an antebellum State Historic
Site located on the shores of Lake Phelps near Creswell. Somerset
offers one of the most comprehensive and realistic views of
lifestyles of all plantation residents. Consisting of more than
100,000 acres Somerset was once one of the upper South’s largest
plantations. The
plantation was in operation from 1785 –1865. During that period 50
white employees, two free black employees, and over 850 enslaved
people lived and worked at Somerset. The plantation produced rice,
corn, wheat, oats, beans, peas and flax. A saw mill also produced
thousands of feet of cypress lumber.
Visitors tour the Collins Family Home and related dependencies
including the Dairy, Kitchen/Laundry, Kitchen Rations Building,
Smokehouse, and Salting House. In addition, there are a number of
reconstructed buildings and archeological sites that can be
explored.
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