A well-preserved 1850 Greek Revival plantation house south of Burgaw in Wilmington's northern reach, with guided tours that treat the full history — including the enslaved people who built and worked the property — with the seriousness it deserves.
Poplar Grove was established in the 1790s and the current house dates to 1850, built on a peanut and corn plantation that at its peak was worked by more than 60 enslaved people. The property is operated as a historic site and working heritage farm, and the tours here have moved meaningfully toward presenting the full history of the site — including the lives of the people whose labor built it — rather than the sanitized planter-family narrative that characterized earlier interpretations.
The grounds include the original house, outbuildings, a smokehouse, a tenant farmer's cabin, and a heritage garden. A local farmers market operates on the grounds on Wednesdays and Saturdays year-round, which gives the site an ongoing community function beyond its historical role. The juxtaposition of the antebellum architecture and the active farmers market is a genuinely interesting piece of how history gets inhabited rather than just preserved.
It is 20 minutes south of Burgaw on US-17, which makes it easy to combine with a trip toward Wilmington. Come for the history, stay for the farmers market, or do it the other way around. Either direction, it is worth the stop.
Practical tips
- Tours run Tuesday through Saturday; check poplargroveplantation.com for current times and pricing
- The farmers market (Wed and Sat) runs year-round and is one of the better ones in the region
- Allow 90 minutes for a full guided tour of the house and outbuildings
- The grounds alone are worth a walk even if you don't do the tour
- 20 minutes south on US-17 — easy to combine with a Wilmington day trip
Worth combining with this
Moore's Creek Battlefield
Where North Carolina decided to fight.
A Revolutionary War National Battlefield just 20 minutes from Burgaw, set in a forest of moss-draped bottomland trees. The history is real and the grounds are worth visiting for their own sake.
Downtown Burgaw
A main street that still feels like one.
The kind of town square that has become rare — a working courthouse, local shops with actual character, and sidewalks worth strolling. Best on a Friday afternoon when the energy is right.