16 Shirley Plantation

In Podcast #16 (May 2008) the Virginia Trekkers take you to Shirley Plantation in the Coastal Plain Region. Plantations were huge farms that were almost like small villages because the workers lived right on the farm and met all their own needs. They grew their own food, raised their own animals, made their own clothes, and built their own buildings. Shirley Plantation is the oldest active plantation in the United States and the oldest family-owned business in America! In this podcast you’ll learn how colonists preserved their food before there were refrigerators, why colonial homes had pineapple carvings, how this plantation survived the Civil War without being burned down, and lots more about daily life in the past. We’ll also review wild vs. tame animals, indentured servants vs. slaves, and we’ll even show you a real live bald eagle! and Come on... let’s go trekkin’!