Orton Plantation

Orton Plantation, on the Cape Fear River in southeastern North Carolina, began with early colonial settlement and became a major rice plantation through the unpaid labor of hundreds of enslaved people. Roger Moore built the present house in 1735 after an earlier home there was destroyed, and the estate later passed through several owners. During the Civil War, Union troops confiscated the property and used the house as a hospital, helping save it from destruction. Restored after years of abandonment, Orton grew into a noted example of Southern antebellum architecture, with extensive gardens later opened to visitors. The estate also helped preserve nearby Brunswick Town and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Sea Breeze, North Carolina · United States