Plantation Trail

The main plantation homesite features reconstructed mid-19th-century buildings. Stones mark the locations of the birth cabin where Booker T. Washington was born and the Burroughs family home, known as the “Big House.” The reconstructed kitchen cabin and the smokehouse are also located here.

NPS / Linda Coldiron

A walk along the Plantation Trail in the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont evokes the atmosphere of an 1850s and Civil War-era tobacco plantation, reflecting Booker T. Washington’s childhood at the Burroughs plantation. Washington’s journey from enslavement to emancipation began here. Explore reconstructed mid-19th-century buildings in the historic core as a place to reflect on Washington’s progression from enslavement to national leadership and his enduring impact as a leading African American figure of his era.

The Plantation Trail forms a .55-mile loop, passing reconstructed buildings including a horse barn, kitchen cabin, smokehouse, blacksmith shop, and historic tobacco barn. A freshwater spring located southeast of the original homesite, where Booker drew water for the enslaved men working in the fields, flows through the property. You are invited to explore the open buildings and grounds.