House Porn: Inside Hampton Estate, Baltimore's Largest Plantation & The Largest House in America (in 1790)

demetria lucas January 15, 2016

Most people have the idea that you have to wander around the Deep South to see an actual plantation. Ok. Let me speak for myself. I thought that. And I once made a point to drive an hour from New Orleans to see Plantation Row in Edgard, Louisiana. Another time, I drove 4.5 hours from Atlanta to Low Country, South Carolina to see Magnolia Plantation.

Turns out, I could have driven 45 minutes from where I grew up and BOOM: Hampton Estate. In its heyday the owners, the Ridgelys, had 25k acres of Baltimore's finest land— for the locals, that includes Lutherville, White Marsh, and parts of Baltimore City— and 300+ enslaved men and women, white and black, to work their grounds.

Who knew?

Why I Go on Plantation Tours: Morbid Curiosity

demetria lucas December 22, 2015

I was walking through Magnolia Gardens the first time I thought about turning the #seesomeworld into a blog.

Let me explain: visiting a plantation as a Black person is a bizarre experience, but probably not for the reasons you think, like being spooked by the spirits of dead enslaved men and women. This was my first plantation visit (I’ve been to many since), and my conflict started with just paying to get in. I mean, like, the place where people once were enslaved is now a popular tourist attraction and you can host your wedding there?!!

On the other hand, plantations are very, very beautiful.