Latta Place Visitor Center exterior rendering / Credit: Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation

March 21. Mecklenburg County unveiled plans for Latta Place that include a new interpretive trail, a new visitor center and updates to the plantation farmstead that will uncover the “entangled stories of the people and cultures” who lived there.

That includes enslaved people, Indigenous people, tenant farmers, artisans and historic landowners.

The county closed the site in 2021 after an uproar over a Juneteenth event.

Quotable

“Our goal is for all people to feel welcome at Latta Place and comfortable confronting our complex past, and that visitors leave transformed and ready to create a more unified future,” said Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio.

Latta Place | Library of Congress

Details

The $11.2 million project includes a new visitors center, a tribute to slaves who were held on the land and an interpretive trail with historical context.

Construction will start late this year, with reopening next year.

Methodology

The County assessed the buildings and structures on site to determine which are original and contribute to a truthful history of the landowners, tenant farmers and enslaved people who lived and worked there.

It includes a mix of original buildings, replica buildings, and structures that are historic but not original to Latta Place.

Under the final design concept and site plan, Latta House and the meat house, both original to the farmstead, will remain in place. The county will remove a small replica barn, a replica structure that was formerly a field office, a chicken coop and freestanding restrooms.

The design also plans for gardens and native meadows at the farmstead, and a nearby outdoor gathering space. Like the interpretive trail, accessible, tactile and interactive displays will assist visitors in their self-guided tours of the farmstead.

Latta Place interpretive trail / Credit: Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation