The staff at Poplar Grove is dedicated to helping students understand and appreciate what life was like in the 1800’s on a southern plantation and how lives and times have changed from the days when handmade & homegrown was the norm.  

Educational programs are designed to meet Competency Goals for the Common Core State & NC Essential Standards.  Schools can choose from a variety of programs that bring history to life for students of all ages.

Orientation for all teachers will begin in the gift shop; follow the brick walkway to the back of the manor house, lower level.  This overview will start your visit with a map and schedule of your class activities.

Built by Joseph Mumford Foy, circa 1850, after the original manor house was destroyed by fire in 1849. The manor house brings to life the history of the Foy family through period furnishings and a guided interpretation.

Circa 1850. Used for smoking meat, a form of food preservation during a time when there was no refrigeration.

Circa 1850. The cooking was done in a separate building, away from the manor house, due to the threat of fire. The herb cellar, an underground level of the kitchen, was used to dry and store herbs used in cooking.

Circa 1930. Tenant farming became popular after the civil war when there were few jobs except farm work, and remained so until after WWII. This two-room house was moved to its present location and restored in 1980.

A large variety of baskets, materials and techniques are used here to interpret the skill and history of basket making.

The blacksmith shop produced nails, hardware and tools. Repairs to farm equipment, wagons and the shoeing horses were also done here.

The weaving studio depicts traditional skills necessary to make yarn and fabric for clothing, linens, rugs and other textiles.

Visit with our varying menagerie of goats, sheep, ponies, geese, chickens and more.

A ride on the hay wagon through the plantation fields and woods takes you through areas of the original estate.