When Justo Liendo began growing cotton on his 67,000 acre Spanish land grant, it was one of Texas earliest plantations. Leonard Groce, one of the largest and most respected land owners in Texas, later built his home there in 1853, and Liendo Plantation became a social center as well, receiving and lavishly entertaining early Texas dignitaries and notorieties such as General and Mrs. George A. Custer and sculptress Elisabet Ney, who lived at Liendo from 1873 until her death in 1911.

Liendo was a typical Southern plantation with the majority of the work done by over 300 slaves. Self-sufficient, it functioned as a self-contained community. Like most Southern plantations, however, Liendo fell on hard times after the Civil War and changed owners several times thereafter.

Carefully restored, Liendo is now recognized as a Texas historic landmark and is listed on the national register of historic places and is open for viewing the first Saturday of most months.