Plantations
A prominent reminder of Louisiana’s history as a slave state can be found in the many preserved plantation houses. Slavery here predates European settlement as the local Indians had long practised enslavement of captured enemies. French settlers found that the land in the south near the Mississippi was well suited to production of crops such as cotton and sugar so they set up plantations and imported African slaves. In 1793 the invention of the cotton gin allowed cotton that would grow in the northern Louisiana uplands to be processed, so as the US took over in 1803 demand for slaves increased. During the Civil War many plantations were destroyed but some survived either through luck or because their owners had links or sympathies with the Union cause. Many of the surviving Plantation houses have been preserved and are open to the public
Magnolia Mound Plantation, Baton Rouge
Although an example of French Creole architecture, this house was built in the 1790s by Irishman John Joyce. He and his wife Constance lived in Mobile Alabama, so an overseer ran the indigo plantation. Joyce drowned in 1798, and in 1802 his widow married Armand Duplantier, owner of a nearby plantation. Over the next 3 years they enlarged the house, decorated it with imported silks and wallpapers and installed European furniture. Duplantier grew first cotton and later sugar on the plantation. Magnolia Mound subsequently had several owners, but by 1960 it was empty and in disrepair. Baton Rouge Recreation and Parks purchased the house in 1966. They restored it to the Duplantier era and from 1975 opened it to the public for guided tours.
Kent Plantation House, Alexandria
Pierre Baillio II was given a grant of land for a sugar plantation in about 1794. He began construction of his Creole plantation house around 1796, building the house on brick columns to keep it clear of floods and completing it in 1800. Baillio lived in the house until his death in 1824 and his widow until her death in 1838. In 1842 the house was purchased from Baillio’s heirs by Robert C. Hynson and he added two square wings at either end of the front gallery. The plantation has now been swallowed up by expansion of the city of Alexandria so the house together with a Slave Cabin and other buildings such as a Sugar Mill have been moved to a new site to preserve them. Kent Plantation House is open to the public for guided tours. Click Tab 2 to see the Sugar Mill.
San Francisco Plantation, Garyville
One of the most unusual plantation mansions is near Garyville sitting behind a levee that now blocks its view of the Mississippi. Edmond Bozonier Marmillion and his partner Eugène Lartigue bought land here in 1830 to establish a sugar plantation. Between 1853 and 1855 Edmond built an opulent mansion in the ‘steamboat gothic’ style, so called because it resembles a Mississippi steamboat. Edmond died in 1856 and his son Valsin wanted to sell the plantation. A family dispute and then the Civil War thwarted his plans. Valsin used the French slang term ‘sans fruscins’ (without a penny in my pocket) to describe his predicament and over the years this evolved into San Francisco. The mansion is now owned by Marathon Oil who have opened it to the public.
Nottoway Plantation, White Castle
John Hampden Randolph settled at a plantation called Forest Home in 1841. He made a fortune by changing the crop from cotton to sugar cane, so he needed a grander home. He purchased land 8 kilometres (5 miles) away for a new plantation and began building a mansion. Randolph wanted no expense to be spared and the 64 room mansion was finished in 1859 at a cost of $80,000. During the Civil War, Randolph went to Texas to grow cotton. His wife Emily stayed at Nottoway and survived several attacks by Union gunboats. Randolph died in 1883 and his wife sold the plantation in 1889. Nottoway Plantation has been restored, the house is open to the public and it also operates as a hotel. Click Tab 2 to see the Ballroom.
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Houmas House, Darrow
The Houmas Indians grew crops here until they sold the land in the mid 1700s to Maurice Conway and Alexander Latil. They established a sugar plantation and Latil built a French Provincial house. In 1810 the plantation was bought by Revolutionary War hero General Wade Hampton who began construction of a mansion. Houmas House was not completed until 1828, by which time the plantation had passed to his daughter Caroline and her husband. Irishman John Burnside bought the plantation in 1857 and he saved it from destruction during the Civil War by declaring immunity as a subject of the British Crown. The plantation went into decline following a major flood in 1927 and the Great Depression. Dr. George B. Crozat purchased the house in 1940 as a summer home and later he opened it to the public.
Laura Plantation, Vacherie
The Duparc sugar plantation was established by Guillaume Duparc in 1804 and in 1805 he completed the plantation house, a Créole house raised on brick pillars to keep it clear of Mississippi floods. The last descendent of Duparc to run the plantation was Laura Locoul, his great granddaughter. Her impact was such that it became known as Laura Plantation. Laura Locoul sold the plantation in 1891 to the Waguespack family who continued farming sugar cane for the next 90 years. After plans to build a new bridge across the Mississippi but were thwarted by a geological fault, the old homestead was acquired by the Laura Plantation Company in 1993 who restored it and opened it to the public. Click Tab 2 to see the Slave Quarters which housed workers up to 1977.
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© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2025
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