Somerset Place State Historic Site
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Somerset Place State Historic Site
@somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
37 followers 35 following 230 posts
Interpreting the lives of enslaved and free persons on one of the largest plantations in antebellum North Carolina.
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somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
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.
May 7, 2025 at 2:59 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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.
Yaupon Brothers Tea
May 3, 2025 at 5:11 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
May 3, 2025 at 4:46 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
Volunteers needed!

#Volunteer #Paint #History #HistoricSite #Outdoors
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social Somerset Place State Historic Site @somersetplaceshs.bsky.social · May 1
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
Spring Painting flyer
May 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
Never not thinking about these deer!

#Nature #NCDNCR #StatePark #Lake #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #History #HistoricSite #NCHistoricSites #NorthCarolina #NCParks #Animals #Deer #Lakeshore #AnimalVideo #NCNature
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social Somerset Place State Historic Site @somersetplaceshs.bsky.social · Jan 21
Oh Deer! After staff arrived on site the other morning, these deer crossed the cleared lake shore in front of the Owner’s Compound.

#Nature #NCDNCR #StatePark #Lake #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #History #HistoricSite #NCHistoricSites #NorthCarolina #NCParks #Animals #Deer
May 3, 2025 at 4:41 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
Correction: it closes Monday, May 12, at 5:00 pm.
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social Somerset Place State Historic Site @somersetplaceshs.bsky.social · May 3
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
Historical Interpreters working in the garden Somerset Place workers making black-eyed peas Historical interpreter giving a tour
May 3, 2025 at 4:33 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Historical Interpreters working in the garden Somerset Place workers making black-eyed peas Historical interpreter giving a tour
May 3, 2025 at 1:54 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Spring Painting flyer
May 1, 2025 at 2:12 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Bean Sprout
May 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
April 29, 2025 at 2:18 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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!
April 26, 2025 at 5:57 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
April 26, 2025 at 3:52 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
The turnips in our garden keep growing and growing!
#Turnips #Garden #Spring #Outdoors #Gardening #Vegetables #VegetableGarden #Veggies #Green #GrowYourOwnFood #YouGrowGirl #FoodGarden
Turnip sprout
April 26, 2025 at 1:19 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Sycamore tree Sycamore Tree Sycamore Tree American Elm trees
April 25, 2025 at 6:08 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Aerial image of Winston-Salem
April 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
#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
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
April 23, 2025 at 8:11 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Bee on flowers Cypress tree Pink flowers Spider on a web
April 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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.
Amanda Williams
April 19, 2025 at 8:19 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
April 19, 2025 at 5:47 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Sycamore seedling
April 16, 2025 at 7:29 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Cast iron iron in front of the fireplace
April 15, 2025 at 7:06 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
”Baptism in community of Gullah descendants in North Carolina,” c.1935, courtesy of the New York Public Library
April 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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
Image of the surrender at Appomattox Court House
April 9, 2025 at 7:04 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
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.
Gourd birdhouses sitting in front of a window
April 8, 2025 at 3:30 PM
somersetplaceshs.bsky.social
While we strive to maintain our composure filming these videos, it is hard to capture everything in one take. We sometimes have to cut out segments before a video is finalized, or even start over completely.

Check out our outtakes in the link below!:

youtu.be/YOatFueQvSM
April 5, 2025 at 5:16 PM