An Essential American Experience
The historic preservation work and interpretation of history at Middleton Place focuses on major contributions of the Middleton family as well as the enslaved Africans and African Americans who lived and worked here. The stories are a microcosm of United States history. From the early Colonial period through the Revolution, the early Republic, the Civil War era and beyond, they made a mark on the land, the colony, state and nation.
learn moreThe Middleton Place National Historic Landmark is a place where the past greets the present on garden paths more than a quarter millennium old. Middleton Place is an American treasure and a testament to people, what they can accomplish and what they can overcome.
As part of Middleton Place’s mission to share the stories of the enslaved people who made a way of life and an economic empire possible, the Middleton Place Foundation conducted a 10-year research project to reveal the names and stories of the more than 2,800 enslaved people owned by the Middleton family from 1738 to 1865. A permanent exhibit in Eliza’s House, a book, and documentary film explore the lives, families, and contributions of some seven generations of enslaved people.
Beyond The Fields – Slavery at Middleton Place
The Beyond the Fields tour introduces visitors to the institution of slavery and the lives lived by enslaved Africans and African Americans – both slave and free - who labored at Middleton Place and other plantations throughout the South. It explores their personal and family lives, their faith, their leisure activities and the extraordinary cultural contributions they and their descendants made, and continue to make, to modern day America. Their story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.
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