McLeod Plantation Historic Site — Attraction in Charleston

After having this location recommended for the tours, we were honestly fairly disappointed. The property was very pretty. The house had only the first floor open and was not furnished at all. So, it was lacking.

The real disappointment was our tour guide. I do not remember his name. He mentioned that he was relatively new. He also mentioned that the guides there get to make up their own tours. So the experience of others may be vastly different. The tour was about an hour long, but the first 30 minutes were spent standing by the road, where there was not a whole lot to see. The guide didn’t have any discernible theme he was keeping. His presentation was rambling and hyperbolic, when he seemed to lose track of what he was talking about. There were very little details of what life was actually, and at times seemed to gloss over the fact that this family owned other human beings. These were not “workers” on a farm. Don’t sugar coat it. Children were born with lighter skin because women did the have the ability or agency to their own bodies in any aspect. This needs to be pointed out. The men there did not “father” those kids beyond genetic colonization. So much felt like it was watered down. Despite the last contradicting physical beauty of the property. This is a horror house. It needs to be treated as such so that history is not repeated.

We left on our own before the tour ended. I honestly felt like we got more from reading the placards. We bumped into the tour at a few minutes before the end of the hour. We saw the guide had to cut off his tour when another employee had to tell him he had another tour in a few minutes. He cut the tour abruptly and left everyone having spent half the tour standing on the side of the road.

A suggestion for new guides. Learn how to be a guide with well presented material that has been vetted by more experienced and knowledgeable guides before letting green ones make up their own. He just...

I specifically chose the McLeod tour as it is listed multiple places as the most honest and realistic tour of what happened. I will very openly admit that I am unaware of many things and that is why I was there - to learn, to understand better, and to do better. I am very open amd try very hard to be respectful even when I am uncomfortable because I am not sure what I am saying or how to say it. Many people have told me that the only way to learn to do better and be better is to ask, respectfully, and have conversations. Maybe it was the tour guide, Paul's, personality or maybe he just has extremely poor public communication skills but I just stopped trying to ask questions about anything that was related that would help me understand and put things into context better. I thoroughly understand the tour was about the enslaved people. I asked the questions that I asked so that I could understand how those things impacted them. At the beginning of the tour, I told Paul I specifically chose that tour because of the historical accuracy of it and included something about knowing what I was taught in school was different than what I was going to see or trying to get across that I knew this tour was going to be very educational for me. I didn't want to see the house, grounds, etc. as I did not come for that. The tour definitely was extremely educational and Paul is clearly passionate about educating people about enslavement camps which is wonderful that he is. I am positive he deals with ignorant people all day long. Was it an experience I am glad I had? Definitely 100%. Will I ever go on another enslavement camp tour? Probably not. Not because the topic made me too uncomfortable to stay there, but because I don't want to get another tour guide like Paul. Is the topic an uncomfortable topic? Yes, it...

As many have said in their reviews, I too had an enlightening experience at McLeod Plantation. I chose this particular plantation as I was told that it did more to tell the whole story which not only included but focused on the lives of enslaved Africans. However, after I left I read the brochure more thoroughly and found this description of life on the plantation of being a community of people each seeking their kind of freedom:

"Freedom’s Perspectives At McLeod Plantation the story of a conflicted society unfolds. African American families like the Gathers, Dawsons, and others aspired to be free and have their rights guaranteed and protected. The plantation-owning McLeod’s sought the freedom to own and manage their property to their economic advantage. These groups were forced to adjust to a world turned upside down by war, pestilence, and a quickly changing social order. As you explore, consider the complex relationships between these groups living so closely together, yet worlds apart. Each struggled to obtain freedom as they defined it."

I find that this has resonance to the logic of the Lost Cause. I also find it very disheartening that they are trying to normalize the greed and immorality of enslavers. Changing this narrative towards truth a justice is a process and it is happening now. I hope that McLeod will work on changing this part of their...