Today we went out into the River Road area Northwest of New Orleans along the Mississippi River towards Baton Rouge. It is here where hundreds of plantations existed (and some still are in operation today) farming sugar cane and cotton. We visited two distinctly different plantations. One was the Laura Plantation. ( www.lauraplantation.com ) This plantation was originally built in 1804. The plantation was owned by a Creole family and was operated differently than the “Gone with the Wind” plantations that we are familiar with. This plantation was run for business. As such, the “Big House” was the location for the offices and business was transacted there. It was not where the family lived on a regular basis. In fact, their homes were in the French Quarter of New Orleans. There were small bedrooms off of the offices, but were not lavish or extravagant. The other unique thing of the Creole way of doing things was that the duties of running the plantation were handed down, not to the eldest male heir, but to whomever the current owner felt was best qualified to run the place among the children! This meant that for three generations the plantation “President” was female. The last family owner was Laura Locoul. She was born in 1861 and passed away in 1963!! She was being groomed to be the “President” by her father but she rebelled and moved to St. Louis to spend most of her life. In 1936, Laura compiled extensive notes about life on the plantation which were only recently discovered. The current owner has published these notes in book form along with his observations and research (“Memories of the Old Plantation Home & A Creole Family Album”). The Big House is laid out like most all of the Plantations. There are a large bank of doors along the front wall that all face towards the Mississippi. There is a grove of trees that line their way out towards the levee.
The trees served to funnel the breezes from off the water into the house. The doors were left open to allow the breeze to flow through the house. In the case of the Laura Big House, the offices were to the left and right of the front door. If you had business with the owners, you entered in them. The front doors, being open, allowed all manner of critters into the house. It was through this door that they were shooed out also. Therefore, among the Creoles, it was considered an insult to invite them in through the center front doors because only the animals and pests came in through them. The other thing to note is the brightly colored paint. Not the all white you see with the Anglo plantations. Again, a bit of the African and Creole heritage showing.
The building sat on pillars of brick and mortar. This allowed water to flow around the foundation and not damage the home. It also allowed it to dry quickly or, in the warm season, helped to keep it cool beneath the home.
The pottery casks in the picture were originally buried in the ground to the neck. Then perishables like milk, cheese, and butter would be placed in them. The ground serving as a natural insulator.
The house itself was made of pre-designed and cut old aged Cypress trees. Cypress is resistant to rot and termites won’t touch it. The original plans for the building were found in the Library of Congress for the restoration and can still be found there today. There are very few nails in the house. The floor joist shown below is interesting. The two joining timbers were cut and angled with a notch in the middle. When put together, a stake of Cypress was driven in, thus tightening the joint. Over the course of three years, the stake would be hammered in further until finally the wood had dried out and the join was stable.
One of the Office rooms as you entered the doors.
The Foyer in the middle of the House.
The dining room in the back of the house. It is here that you would be welcomed after concluding business with the family. You would eat a meal and enjoy music and dancing until the next morning. Then you would be on your way.
It is on this bed that Laura (and in fact three generations of the family) was born.
Looking at the back of the Big House. Originally there were two wings to the right and left. These had been destroyed by the time the current owners came into possession. He told me that he has plans on restoring them as time and funding allows.
This is the location of the original kitchen. Like all plantations of the time, the kitchen was located behind and away from the home. This was because all of the cooking was done with open fires and it a.) kept the heat out of the house and b.) kept the home from being destroyed in case of fire. I was told that fires happened frequently and is, in fact, why there is no kitchen structure here today.
These are two restored slave cabins. Each cabin originally housed two families but that changed in the mid 1800’s when only one family occupied each cabin. These cabins originally stretched side by side and across the lane for a mile! Life began at 4:00 am during the season. The animals had to be fed and hitched up and breakfast had to be eaten before daylight. Then they worked in the sugar cane fields until dark. The care and holding of slaves was strictly regulated in the French colonies and governed by the Code Noir. It is over 60 rules for owning and treating slaves. It is interesting, but chilling reading if you have the curiosity.
This is the view from the back of the cabin. Here one family would reside. There were no beds in the cabin. The residents slept in hammocks hung out on the front porch.
I was told by the current owner that he bought the place, not for the Big House, but for the existence of the slave cabins and for one other piece of history that happened here. It seems that a neighbor of Laura’s compiled stories from the slaves and eventually these stories were published as the “Tales of Uncle Remus”. You may be familiar with one of the main characters... Br’er Rabbit!
We next went down the road to one of the most photographed Plantations in the area, Oak Alley. Back in the early 1700’s, a settler planted 28 oak trees in a line from his house to the river (14 evenly spaced on each side). In 1839, Jacques Roman bought the place and built the Plantation home that stands there now. The view down the lane is the picture at the top of this blog. This house was made for living and entertaining in. Jacques’ wife loved New Orleans society and frequently entertained. Unlike the Laura Plantation, the family lived in the Big House and business was rarely transacted within its walls. Over the years, the plantation has had several owners and is currently a national Historic Landmark and owned by a non-profit Oak Alley Foundation. You can tour the home and stroll around the carefully manicured grounds. No photos are allowed inside the home, so I can’t show you them. But I will tell you that they are very magnificent. (I was struck by the similarity to the Seelye Mansion in Abilene, KS. The furnishings and decor were similar. If you ever get a chance to tour that Mansion, it is well worth it also. )
This is the side approach to the mansion. Notice all of the old oaks. These are only about 100 years old, so they are referred to as the “Baby Oaks”.
The view of the 28 Oak Trees from the balcony of the Big house looking out.
This was a wonderful place to just stroll around and enjoy Christmas Eve day.
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