The Antebellum Period
Washington County's most visited attraction is Somerset Place, an antebellum State Historic Site located on the shores of Lake Phelps near Creswell. Somerset offers one of the most comprehensive and realistic views of lifestyles of all plantation residents. Consisting of more than 100,000 acres Somerset was once one of the upper South's largest plantations. The plantation was in operation from 1785 - 1865. During that period 50 white employees, two free black employees, and over 850 enslaved people lived and worked at Somerset. The plantation produced rice, corn, wheat, oats, beans, peas and flax. A saw mill also produced thousands of feet of cypress lumber.

Visitors tour the Collins Family Home and related dependencies including the Dairy, Kitchen/Laundry, Kitchen Rations Building, Smokehouse, and Salting House. In addition, there are a number of reconstructed buildings and archeological sites that can be explored.