Felicity Plantation is a historic

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

on the banks of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

. It is located along

Louisiana Highway 18 Louisiana Highway 18 (LA 18) is a state highway that serves Ascension, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Jefferson Parishes. Called the Great River Road, it runs from west to east, parallel to the west bank of the Mississipp ...

in Vacherie, St. James Parish. Felicity is a sister plantation to St. Joseph Plantation, and was built around 1846 (or 1850) by

Valcour Aime François-Gabriel "Valcour" Aime (1797–1867) was a slave owner, sugar planter, philanthropist, and pioneer in the large-scale refining of sugar. Known as the "Louis XIV of Louisiana," he was reputedly the wealthiest person in the South. Aime ow ...

as a wedding gift to his daughter, Felicite Emma, and her spouse, Septime Fortier, who was also her cousin. Acquired by a bank in 1873, the plantation was purchased by Saturnine Waguespack in 1890, who merged it with the St. Joseph Plantation to form the St. Joseph Plantation and Manufacturing Company. The house still remains in the Waguespack family.

Architecture

The

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ...

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

has elements of

French Colonial French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. Many former French colonies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have previously been reluctant to promote their colonial architecture ...

and Anglo-American styles. It is characterized by its wide hallways and high-ceilinged rooms, while featuring a carved cypress

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

. Several of the rooms contain red Italian marble mantlepieces. Six wooden pillars are large in size and square in shape. The house was damaged during

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

in 2005 and has since been restored.

Grounds

The grounds still contain an original barn and

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

quarters houses.

In film

Several films have used the plantation as a location, including ''

The Skeleton Key ''The Skeleton Key'' is a 2005 American Southern Gothic supernatural horror film directed by Iain Softley, written by Ehren Kruger, and starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The narrative follows a New O ...

'' (2005) and '' 12 Years a Slave'' (2013), along with Season One of the WGN television series, ''

Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

''.

References

{{coord, 30.00545, -90.76534, type:landmark_region:US-LA, format=dms, display=title Houses completed in 1846 Sugar plantations in Louisiana Houses in St. James Parish, Louisiana Plantation houses in Louisiana Slave cabins and quarters in the United States