The Georgian-style mansion at the historical McLeod plantation.

©LouieLea/Shutterstock

McLeod Plantation

Top choice


Opened to the public in 2015, this James Island plantation offers an honest and frankly devastating account of the lives of the enslaved and later (theoretically) emancipated African Americans who lived and worked here between 1851 and 1990. Yes, you read that right. The last African American resident, who worked as a nurse for the grandson of the man who enslaved her great-great-grandparents, moved out of the former slave quarters only a few decades ago.

The 37-acre property contains a welcome center, the Georgian-style plantation home, a row of former slave houses, a cotton gin house, a Gullah cemetery and several other structures, some dating back to the early 1800s. Over the centuries, occupants have included three generations of McLeods, the Confederate army, the Union army and the Bureau for Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.

The story of this property is, in many ways, the story of the South, and it offers a clear-eyed account of the inhumanity and lasting impacts of slavery. The 45-minute guided tours, offered at 9:30am, 11am, noon, 1pm and 2:30pm, come with your admission ticket and are highly informative.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Citadel Campus & Museum

2.47 MILES

South Carolina's military-college campus is set in historic buildings and is replete with uniformed cadets and various memorials. There's a small museum…

2. College of Charleston

2.52 MILES

Spread over a few city blocks at the center of Charleston's downtown, this university was founded in 1770 and is the oldest in the state. The campus is…

3. George Gallery

2.54 MILES

A neighborhood favorite, this contemporary-art gallery displays mostly abstract and nonobjective work of artists from the East Coast with some connection…

4. Battery & White Point Garden

2.56 MILES

The Battery is the southern tip of the Charleston Peninsula, buffered by a seawall. Stroll past cannons and statues of military heroes in the gardens,…

5. Joggling Board

2.57 MILES

In the yard of the Nathaniel Russell House sits a fine specimen of a super-Charlestonian porch furnishing – the joggling board. It consists of a 16ft…

6. Nathaniel Russell House

2.57 MILES

A spectacular, self-supporting spiral staircase is the highlight at this 1808 Federal-style house, built by a Rhode Islander, known in Charleston as 'King…

7. Calhoun Mansion

2.58 MILES

If you've ever wondered what the wealthiest, fanciest, most well-traveled hoarder's house might look like, visit the Calhoun Mansion. With 35 rooms and 24…

8. Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

2.62 MILES

An outpost of the world's largest private collection of important original manuscripts and documents, housed in a former Methodist church built in 1856…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "usa/south-carolina/charleston-county-sea-islands/attractions/mcleod-plantation/a/poi-sig/1591478/1324420",
      "position": "superzone"
    }