‘Historic and restorative.’ Mecklenburg starts work on Latta Place in Huntersville
Mecklenburg County officially began construction on a “reimagined” Latta Place with a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday — years after the former plantation was closed to the public following uproar over a Juneteenth event.
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The 16-acre site, formerly known as Latta Plantation, is part of the larger, county-owned Latta Nature Preserve in Huntersville. It previously operated as a “living history museum and farm” under the direction of a nonprofit and was first built by James Latta in 1800.
But many in the community and multiple elected officials slammed the nonprofit operating the site in 2021 for an event timed to the Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the United States. Promotional materials for the event, called “Kingdom Coming,” promised to tell the story of “white refugees” and defeated Confederate soldiers and referred to a slave owner as an “overseer” and “massa.”
Soon after, Mecklenburg County closed the site to the public, announced it wouldn’t renew its contract with the nonprofit and formally removed “plantation” from the site’s name.
In the intervening years, the county and other partners planned an $11.2 million redesign of Latta Place that will include a new visitors center, a tribute to the enslaved people who were held on the land and an “interpretive trail” providing historical context as visitors explore the site.
That work culminated in Monday’s groundbreaking.
Mecklenburg County Manager Mike Bryant described the event as “both a historic and restorative moment for Mecklenburg County.”
“It is my hope that today will serve as a turning point. Not a return to the past, but a step toward a more honest, just and hopeful future for our beloved community and beyond,” he said during Monday’s event. “Mecklenburg County acknowledges that history does not belong to one particular group over another. It is shared. However, as we share this history, we all have a moral obligation and duty to share it in a way that is honest, sensitive and unbiased.
A committee made up of county staff, historians, scholars, community leaders and descendants helped guide the county’s efforts to redesign the historical site. Committee member Scott Warren noted the group traveled to other former plantations around the region as part of its work.
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“Truth, transparency, compassion, transformation and unity. These principles and having these as our guidepost are not only what drives my work as a public historian; it is what drew me to work with this committee and Mecklenburg County,” said Warren, who also serves as site manager of the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville.
Brandon Lunsford, a historian with Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, said the team behind the project want to showcase the lives of all who’ve lived on the site over centuries, including enslaved people and Native Americans.
Those efforts include preserving historic buildings on the site, such as the Stafford Cabin. The structure is believed to be the last intact cabin built to house enslaved people in Mecklenburg County and was moved to Latta Place from its original location in east Charlotte.
But, Lunsford noted, the dehumanization of people who were enslaved still makes it hard to know exactly what happened on the site in its past.
“It’s hard to prove a lot of things, especially when it comes to enslaved people, because they weren’t considered to be people. They were considered property, so they weren’t referred to in the historical documentation.” he said.
The names of more than 60 people who were enslaved on the land from 1769 to 1865 were read aloud during Monday’s ceremony. Some were known as George, Frank or Sarah. Others can only be identified as “name unknown” or “unnamed baby.”
“May their names continue to be spoken. May their stories continue to be told, and may what we build upon this ground honor the fullness of the history beneath our feet,” Rev. Rebecca Warren said after reading the list.
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Latta Place is expected to reopen to the public in 2027.
