Among the many changes currently being introduced at Long Branch, we’ve also made the decision to change the name of the organization itself.

From now on, the organization is embracing, “Long Branch Plantation” as its name.

What to call “Long Branch” has been something of a challenge since the house and grounds opened as a public site early in the 1990s. The challenge of what to call Long Branch parallels the challenge of what to do with the house and the struggle for the site to embrace 200 years of history.

Since 1990, the site has been known under various titles, including, “Historic Long Branch,” “Long Branch Historic House and Farm,” “Long Branch House Museum,” and a few variations thereof.

Curiously, although the public has often referred to the site as “Long Branch Plantation,” which is accurate, it was never formally called a plantation.

During a previous strategic planning effort in the early 2000s, there was much clamor over whether the site qualified as a museum, but no debate was held over the use of the obvious name: plantation.

The quick definition of a plantation is: “A self-contained large-scale agricultural operation that produces one cash-crop not for local consumption. Generally, in the American antebellum south, this type of operation is grounded on a slave-labor model.”

Historically, from primary sources in our collection, we know that as early as 1796 (before our house was even built) the property was referred to as a plantation. In both cultural and economic terms, that was what Long Branch was. Settled by sons of the Tidewater of Virginia, the entire area (modern-day Clarke County, Virginia) was carved up into highly productive plantations.

So, as we planned for our future, with history as our central focus, it seemed obvious that we should revert to our historic title.

Some voices suggested calling it a plantation hearkened back to the era of slavery – to those voices I say YES! That’s precisely the point. It hearkens back to another era. Some parts of that era were good, and many were not. By calling it a plantation we’re certainly not endorsing slavery, rather, we are working to make our visitors think about the long history of the site, which includes slavery.

Avoiding the use of “plantation” to whitewash history and forget slavery seems far more egregious than using the term to discuss our past and remind visitors that many groups were involved in creating the Long Branch we know today.

To us, “Plantation” is a historical term that we are using, along with many other terms and tools to explore and interpret our past.

So, please come visit the plantation next time you’re passing through.