School Field Trips
The staff at Poplar Grove is dedicated to helping students understand life along the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor across several generations — from enslavement to tenant farming. Elementary and middle-school programs are designed to meet Common Core Social Studies goals and NC Essential Standards; upper-grade programs can be tailored to a specific unit and explore the harsher realities of enslavement, tenant farming, Jim Crow, and the 1898 Wilmington Race Massacre.
Register
For everyone’s safety, school-sponsored visits must register: download the School Group Trip Request Form and email it to Suzette Cooper-Hawley at suzette@poplargrove.org. We are currently scheduling for spring 2026 (limited fall availability). A 15-student minimum applies. A packet is emailed one week prior to your visit.
Things to See & Do
- Manor House (c. 1850) — built by enslaved artisans using on-site clay, timber, heart pine, and black walnut.
- Smoke House — food preservation and West African salt traditions.
- Kitchen Storage House & Herb Cellar — separate kitchen and underground herb cellar for cooking, medicine, and dyes.
- Tenant House (c. 1875) — tenant farming after the Civil War; last occupied by Nimrod Nixon.
- Gardens (in season) — herbs, vegetables, dye plants, peanuts, tobacco, and cotton.
- Peanut & Agricultural Exhibit — antique tools and peanut-production history.
- Basket Studio · Blacksmith Shop · Print Shop — heritage arts demonstrations.
Picnic tables, playground, restrooms, and bus parking are available on site.