Fairview-Riverside State Park is a tourist attraction east of
Madisonville, Louisiana
Madisonville is a town in St. Tammany Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 748 at the 2010 U.S. census, and 857 at the 2020 U.S. population estimates program. It is not part of the New Orleans– Metairie–Kenner met ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Its is set along the banks of the
Tchefuncte River
The Tchefuncte River ( ) drains into Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana in the United States. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 20, 2011
Etymology
The ...
. Within the park is the Otis House Museum, built in 1885, which was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1999. Visitors go to Fairview-Riverside to camp, and for water sports and fishing. The park has 100 campsites, a short nature trail, and a boardwalk which reveals forested wetlands along the Tchefuncte River.
The park was featured in the
8th season of ''
The Amazing Race
''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...
''.
Otis House
Situated on Fairview-Riverside state park, the house was built in 1885 by William Theodore Jay, who owned a sawmill near the property. In 1906, Jay sold the property and the sawmill to the Houlton brothers, Charles and William. The area became known as Houltonville and included the Johnson & Houlton Store, a U.S. post office, and about 250 sawmill workers.
Frank Otis, whose family owned Otis Manufacturing in New Orleans, purchased the property from the Houltons in 1936 and used the residence as a summer home until his death in 1962. He bequeathed the house and 99 acres to the state of Louisiana, requesting it be used for public recreation. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The house closed for renovations in late 2010 and reopened in October 2011. The renovations included a lead abatement treatment, structural repairs of storm damage and painting the exterior in the original color, which was determined by a professional paint analysis.
The house was used for the 1981 horror film ''
The Beyond'' and the 1997 film
Eve's Bayou
''Eve's Bayou'' is a 1997 American Southern Gothic drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this film. Samuel L. Jackson served as a producer, and starred in the film with Lisa Nicole Carson, Jurnee Smo ...
.
See also
*
Fontainebleau State Park
Fontainebleau State Park is located in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The park is in size and was once the site of a sugar cane plantation and brickyard operated by Bernard de Marigny and later by his s ...
*
List of Louisiana state parks
The state of Louisiana has 21 state parks, which are governed by the Office of Lieutenant Governor, a division of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Louisiana's state park system began in 1934 when the state passed legis ...
References
External links
Fairview-Riverside State Park
State parks of Louisiana
Protected areas of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
Museums in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
Historic house museums in Louisiana
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