Alma was the name of a community located in southeastern

Pointe Coupee Parish Pointe Coupee Parish ( or ; french: Paroisse de la Pointe-Coupée) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,802; in 2020, its population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads. Pointe ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States. The community was located east of Lakeland. The area is currently home to Pointe Coupee Parish's only operating sugar mill, Alma Plantation. Alma is one of only 11 sugar mills still operating in the state of Louisiana. It produces raw sugar and blackstrap molasses. During the harvesting of

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

, known locally as "the grinding season", Alma Plantation becomes one of the area's largest employers. Sugar cane is brought to this mill for processing from a number of surrounding parishes.

History

The community was located on land once owned by Pointe Coupee's celebrated philanthropist,

Julien Poydras Julien de Lallande (Lalande) Poydras (April 3, 1740 – June 23, 1824) was a French American merchant, planter, financier, poet, educator and political leader who served as Delegate from the Territory of Orleans to the U.S. House of Represen ...

. The original Alma Plantation House was constructed in 1789 along the banks of False River. After the death of Poydras, David Barrow, a member of one of Louisiana's most prominent families, purchased the property. In 1938, Alma Plantations's 13-ton locomotive, "Dixie" was sold off to the Mississippi River Sugar Belt Railroad. The Alma Plantation home is no longer open to the public, but the sugar mill and a country store are open to visitors.Pointe Coupee Historical Sites

References

External links

Alma Plantation Contact Information
{{Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Baton Rouge metropolitan area Ghost towns in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana