Yesterday we toured Oak Alley Plantation in Southern Louisiana along the Great River Road..one of my dreams ever since I watched “Gone With The Wind”….This grand lady made me feel like we were back in the days when sugar cane was king. The big house is an antebellum mansion and was built in 1839 by Jacques Telesphore Roman, a wealthy Creole sugar planter. It was built for his young wife..Actually the magnificent trees were planted first. In the early 1700’s a settler built a small house on the site of the present mansion. He was the one who planted the 28 Live Oak Trees in 2 well-spaced rows, reaching from his house to the Mississippi River…
….We took these photos before we toured inside the Mansion…We arrived early on a Tuesday, and there were only 10 people in our tour group…There were NO photos allowed to be taken inside the house….WHAT???? So…I took photos with my memory, and channeled some serious Southern history by touching the walls…
These were taken on the 2nd story balcony. Notice the panels on the ceiling between the columns. Lower right is our tour guide, who has lived in Calif, IL, SC, and Louisiana…He says he is considered a true Southerner as long as he resides South of I-10..
Right photo was taken from the back of the mansion. There is a huge parking area way beyond this and you pay ($18.00 per) at a little ticket booth before you enter the grounds. I actually got goose bumps as I looked down this walkway toward the “big house”…The grounds are extremely well kept…
Talk about goose bumps…Above is one of the few remaining lists of slaves owned by one of the plantations, and what they were worth monetarily ..This record was recorded by the owner for tax purposes…I felt a twinge of shame reading this list..Note that the price you were worth went accordingly to how important your job was to the plantation owner….
Above is an old photo of the slave quarters….all housed behind the big house where we stood.
This wooden structure once housed the kitchen…They kept the kitchen well away from the main house in case of fire, which could burn everything in a few minutes…Now this is used to house a couple vintage cars…
Left is the levee we followed down the Great River Road, holding the Mississippi River back..Middle is a typical Louisiana cemetery, all above ground… and right is one of the many sugar cane fields. King Sugar Cane still rules down in this part of the South…
What a eye opening trip we had…It was an honor to walk among the ghosts of a past that was wrought with fabulous opulence…. and such sorrow.. at the same time…
THANK YOU, OAK ALLEY PLANTATION…FOR STIRRING EMOTIONS I HAVEN’T FELT BEFORE….
Thank you for taking us on such an awesome tour. I felt your goosebumps too. Your pictures spoke volumes to someone (me) who may never get there, but will always dream of it.
ReplyDeleteHappy and Safe travels
~Betty and Joe
Yes thank you. Can't image how wealthy that family was...just think how much a thousand dollars would have been in that time period. Love looking at old houses. No pics could be same reason you cant take pics at titanic exhibit, because of threat of lawsuits.
ReplyDeletewow I love plantations...we toured Boone Hall Plantation (ck our blog for story and pics) back in April 2010...its near Charleston SC ...I too had goosebumps...the slave houses were still standing and we got to go in them all...we will be visiting our daughter in MS and Oak Alley will definitely be on our list as a must see..thanks for sharing..
ReplyDeleteThose slave pages brought home how terrible it was to grow old or have a missing arm. A very sobering side to a beautiful plantation...
ReplyDeleteNow thats what I call a house..
ReplyDeleteYour photos are beautiful! Please consider submitting them to the free Oak Alley 2011 Photo contest on our website!
ReplyDeletePeace!
Gary
What a beautiful plantation! The south has so many of these gorgeous homes that have been preserved....history is so awesome!
ReplyDeleteAs painful as it was...it was still history. Hopefully we learn from history!! Thanks for the tour!!
great tour of the plantation!..time for some lemonaide on the front porch?
ReplyDeleteGreat historical blog about a difficult and tragic time.
ReplyDeleteLooking at that big white antebellum mansion and then the slave quarters, I couldn't help but think of what the occupants of each would think about the family who is now occupying a 'big White House' in Washington, DC.
It's pretty amazing, isn't it?
Thanks for the tour! We have visited a couple of plantations, but have never been inside. It always irks me when you can't take pictures in certain places. I understand about the problem flashes can make, but with today's digital cameras, no flash is necessary if you make the right settings.
ReplyDelete