APRIL 8, 2015     

PLANTATION COUNTRY. Plantations in the Baton Rouge area supported by enslaved house servants and field workers fueled Louisiana’s economy for many years before the Civil War and emancipation. We toured an elaborate and beautiful antebellum mansion and experienced what life was like at these centers of massive cotton, sugar cane and rice plantations. Behind the scenes, we also had a glimpse of the institution of slavery in the deep south and how only by the dehumanization of slaves was this era of American history even made possible. It’s unpleasant to trace the actual steps of the slaves at Oak Alley…to see where they lived and lay eyes on the restraints and whips used to punish them. But ignoring the past doesn’t erase it. Nor does it provide an opportunity to learn from it. We must apply our knowledge about it to confront prejudice and discrimination as it exists  in our world today.

Our tour of Oak Alley Plantation was top notch! Docents in period costumes were very knowledgeable and entertaining. We were free to roam around the grounds as we wished.

THE GRANDE DAME OF GREAT RIVER ROAD.  One of the highlights of our visit to Baton Rouge was today’s day-trip to see Oak Alley Plantation. Located on Great River Road in the little town of Vacherie, the house occupies a beautiful piece of property on the banks of the great Mississippi River. It is one of the finest examples of an antebellum plantation in the entire southern United States. It is named after its distinguishing feature…an alley or canopied path created by a double row of live oak trees which run between the house and the Mississippi River.

A LITTLE HISTORY. The plantation was established in 1830 to grow sugar cane. The mansion itself was built entirely with enslaved labor and was completed in 1839.  Although the plantation was not physically damaged during the Civil War, the economic distractions of the war and the end of slavery made it no longer economically viable to operate. The buildings gradually fell into disrepair, but they were extensively restored and modernized by a new owner in 1925. In 1972 the last owners to live in the residence donated it to the Oak Alley Foundation, which now presents it as a public attraction and prime example of antebellum life and times in the state of Louisiana. Read more »