MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Mecklenburg County has extended its contract with Historic Latta Place, Inc. to July 14 to allow owned items to be moved off the property, according to county officials.
Initially, Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation sent a letter to the executive director of Historic Latta Place, Inc., notifying that the county would not renew its contract after June 30. The decision followed an event scheduled for Juneteenth at Historic Latta Plantation in Huntersville that did not fall in line with the county's values.
According to a flyer for the event, the site planned to tell stories from the perspective of “massa himself” and referred to the people enslaved on the site as “bondsmen” who were “high on the hog” after the plantation’s manager went into hiding.
Kristin Toler, executive director of Historic Latta Place, Inc., requested an extension to the contract to allow property owned by Historic Latta Place to be removed. In Toler's request, she specified that Historic Latta Place owns some of the buildings as well as everything inside all of the buildings.
At this time, it's not known what Mecklenburg County intends to do with the location after the property has been moved out.
According to the email from Toler, Historic Latta Place, Inc. will be removing "35 years worth of artifacts and property" from the area in the coming weeks.
