January 07, 2024: Touring the Laura Plantation

DID YOU KNOW? In Vacherie, Louisiana is a restored historic Creole plantation bordering the Mississippi River. It was built by slaves in 1804 for Guillaume Duparc, a naval veteran of the American Revolution. Originally a U-shape, the two side wings of the grand house burned to the ground in a 2004 electrical fire that did much damage to the plantation. The detached kitchen behind the house was also completely destroyed, and 80% of the house itself had to be renovated and restored with replicas of the furniture. Only a few original pieces of furniture remain to be viewed on the tour route.

Our tour of the Laura Plantation was informational, painful, and well worth the time spent there. We came away from the tour with a much better understanding of Creole history, and a more vivid picture of the horrors of slavery in America and how plantation owners achieved wealth and power by exploiting the skills and labor of their slaves, often treating them inhumanely in the process. Such a very dark time in our country's history. We finished the tour at the museum, and It's still hard to unsee those walls lined with displayed bills of sales for human beings, some with photos and haunting eyes of those who worked the land in this location. With immediate nausea and a racing heartbeat, Mom found herself having to get out of that room right away. Crying in the parking lot, she made it clear to the rest of us that she would not be going into the next plantation (Whitney - more about that in a moment).

Our tour guide was wonderful, extremely knowledgeable, and very considerate of how she phrased certain aspects of the plantation's history within our little boys' hearing. (Such as Mr. Duparc's illegitimate children with slave women.)

Back in the day, Creole's painted their houses very colorfully, while Americans painted their's white. The two people groups did not get along.

Forms representing Guillarme Duparc and his wife Nanette

These gourds would have been buried in the ground up to the neck and filled with imported olive oil

Photos of Laura, whom the plantation is named after, throughout her lifespan.

Quite the crib if you ask me, LOL

This is the house's pantry, which still bears the marks of the 2004 electrical fire

On the grounds behind the house is a lovely French garden, beautifully tended and pleasing to the eye. While it isn't the original garden, due to the 2004 fire, it is a close replica to the garden that would have been onsite during the plantation years in the Duparc family. There were several heavy-laden fruit trees, and several family members enjoyed picking a few oranges to enjoy later.

A picturesque old oak on the plantation

One of the cabins where the overseers would have lived

The back two buildings are original animal pens. The brick area in front is what's left of the kitchen

One of the original slave shacks...this would have housed at least 20+ slaves

Some of the slave children who lived on this plantation

A bill of sale for a 19-year-old slave

A mile down the road from the Laura Plantation is the picturesque Oak Alley Plantation, named for its grand rows of oaks lining the walk. We drove by this lovely home, but did not tour the plantation, as it focuses more on the architecture and grandiosity of the house, which didn't engage our interest as much as the Whitney Plantation, another nearby plantation that tells the story through the eyes of the slaves.

We were planning to visit Whitney Plantation, a few miles down the road, but they canceled our tour due to incoming weather. After looking at the predicted weather, and being in an RV, we decided to outrun the rain, flash floods, tornadoes, and major wind by heading to Baton Rouge, where we explored the USS KID destroyer and the Veteran's Museum...but that's for the next post :)

Until next time, God bless!