Created By: Pender County Tourism
Poplar Grove Plantation, once the largest peanut farm in North Carolina, has an interesting legacy. Joseph Mumford Foy built a manor house on more than 2,000 acres in what is known today as Scotts Hill in Pender County. Foy was a staunch Unionist and opposed succeeding from the Union.
Yet, a planter by vocation, Foy owned enslaved people. According to the family records, he never sold a slave. He operated a “task” plantation in which the enslaved worked until the task was completed. However, when the work was done, the enslaved could hire out their talents and keep their wages.
When Poplar Grove fell upon hard times, it was the enslaved who provided the money to keep the taxes paid and the farm solvent.
Poplar Grove is a part of the northernmost portion of the Gullah Geechee National Corridor, established by the National Parks Service. The Gullah Geechee corridor stretches from St. Johns County, Florida to Poplar Grove and inland 30 miles along the coast. The corridor celebrates the Gullah Geechee culture, who were direct descendants of Africans brought to the United States and their enslaved descendants.
Poplar Grove Plantation is located at 10200 US-17, Wilmington, NC 28411. Museum tours are available. Please check their website www.poplargrove.org for seasonal museum schedules.
This point of interest is part of the tour: Pender County African American Heritage Trail
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