The Germantown Colony and Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

and

historical preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

project in

Webster Parish, Louisiana Webster Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Webster'') is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. As of the 2010 census, the Webster Parish population was 41,207. In 2018, the ...

about north of Minden in northwestern

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 ...

, USA. It was listed 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 ...

as Germantown in 1979. Germantown was the earliest religious communal settlement in Louisiana. It was founded in 1836 by Germans, adherents to ideas of religious leader Maximilian Ludwig (1788-1834), the "Count of Leon", and it lasted as a commune until 1871. Its founding was led by Elisa Leon (d.1881), the "Countess of Leon", widow of Maximilian Ludwig. In the colony, all property was owned in common and observance of religious principles was required. Though the colony was not very large, only about thirty-five people, it worked together and prospered. Its pacificism and general privation contributed to hardship during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

which contributed to its ending. Germantown once had numerous houses, barns, stores, and shops, as well as a kitchen-dining hall and a "bachelor's hall". The historic buildings are mostly gone; the listing included just two contributing buildings: Countess Leon's home and the kitchen-dining hall, both built of hewn logs with dovetailing at their corners. The kitchen-dining hall has a dry wall stone cellar and an adjacent frame shack. Many windows have been replaced, and none of the porches are original. These surviving historic buildings, and sympathetic rustic others, still "convey in their crude and primitive character something of the life style of the Germantown settlers." The site also includes a barn and other buildings deemed non-contributing, a log cabin which includes a bathroom, and a well. With In 2022 the site, several miles off U.S. 79 and about nine miles north of Interstate 20, continues to be operated as a museum.Google maps measurements of mileage

Gallery

File:Germantown Colony sign, Minden, LA MVI_2604_Germantown_sign.jpg, Germantown Colony Museum sign in

Webster Parish Webster Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Webster'') is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. As of the 2010 census, the Webster Parish population was 41,207. In 2018, the p ...

File:MVI_2593_Wagon_at_Germantown_Museum.jpg, Wagon in

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

shop at Germantown Museum File:MVI_2591_Sugar_cane_press_at_Germantown_Colony.jpg,

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 stalk ...

press at Germantown File:MVI_2587_Germantown_Colony_field.jpg, Open field at Germantown

References

External links

Germantown Colony Museum
- Louisiana Department of State
Friends of the Germantown Colony Museum
- Facebook site National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Museums in Webster Parish, Louisiana History museums in Louisiana German-American culture in Louisiana Utopian communities in the United States Populated places established in 1835 Minden, Louisiana Open-air museums in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Webster Parish, Louisiana {{Louisiana-NRHP-stub