One of the great tobacco plantations of the South, Wessyngton was the estate of the Washington family, one of the state's largest slave owners. In 1860 the family owned 13,000 acres, and their 274 slaves raised 250,000 pounds of tobacco. Once the occupying armies came, many Wessyngton slaves escaped and joined the U.S. Colored Troops in the region. This National Register-listed site is not open to the public, but its historic entrance gates may be seen along State Highway 257, which passes through the heart of the plantation.
