Laura Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana. Down south on the Mississippi River, the plantations grew sugar cane. (cotton was grown up river) In Louisiana, it was colonial French, then Spanish then French again before the American revolution...so it was Catholic territory. The Laura Plantation was built in 1805 and was Creole. The house was elevated to withstand Mississippi floodwaters. The centre doors opened to a central hallway so the air flows through to the rear doors for a cooling breeze. The Creole plantation homes were made in a simple elegant style on a single floor plan and painted with warm colours. This plantation owned almost 200 slaves to run the operation. These slaves lived in small crowded cabins on the property working long hours under difficult circumstances. After emancipation, many of the slaves stayed on working the same jobs living in the same cabins, now at least benefitting from wages. We were told that the decedents of some families lived on in their homes on the plantation even after the plantation ceased to operate. The last tenant left in 1974.

The front entrance to the Plantation House faces the Mississippi River to draw the breeze through the centre doors

View from the house to the Mississippi (now the view is obstructed by a levee)

View from the back of the house toward the sugar plantation and slave quarters

Plantation House

Front Porch

More Porch

Interior of Slave Quarters

Slave Quarters