Oakland Plantation, originally known as the Jean Pierre Emmanuel Prud'homme Plantation, and also known as Bermuda, is a historic plantation in and

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana Natchitoches Parish (french: Paroisse des Natchitoches or ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,566. The parish seat is Natchitoches. The parish was formed in 1805. The Natchito ...

. Founded as a forced-labor farm worked by enslaved Black people for White owners, it is one of the nation's best and most intact examples of a French Creole cotton plantation complex. The Oakland Plantation is now owned by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

as part of the

Cane River Creole National Historical Park Established in 1994, the Cane River Creole National Historical Park serves to preserve the resources and cultural landscapes of the Cane River region in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Located along the Cane River Lake, the park is approximatel ...

. It has been 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 v ...

since August 29, 1979. It is designated as a notable destination on the state's

Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Louisiana African American Heritage Trail (french: Sentier de l'héritage afro-américain de la Louisiane) is a cultural heritage trail with 38 sites designated by the state of Louisiana, from New Orleans along the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge ...

. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

on January 3, 2001.

Geography

The Oakland Plantation grounds and structures are within the

, in the National Park Service's

Cane River National Heritage Area The Cane River National Heritage Area is a United States National Heritage Area in the state of Louisiana. The heritage area is known for plantations featuring Creole architecture, as well as numerous other sites that preserve the multi-cultural h ...

. The

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 ...

is situated on a bend of the

Cane River Lake Cane River Lake (french: Lac de la rivière aux Cannes) is a 35 mi (56 km) oxbow lake formed from a portion of the Red River in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. It runs throughout the Natchitoches' historic district t ...

, with access by

Louisiana Highway 119 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 ...

in the Bermuda community near the parish seat of Natchitoches. Oakland Plantation is located near the Magnolia Plantation, which is another

within the Cane River Creole National Historical Park; and the

Melrose Plantation Melrose Plantation, also known as Yucca Plantation, is a National Historic Landmark located in the unincorporated community of Melrose in Natchitoches Parish in north central Louisiana. This is one of the largest plantations in the United State ...

. Oakland Plantation is associated with the Atahoe Plantation (of Natchez), which was developed by one of the Prud'homme family. The Cherokee Plantation was built by a granddaughter of Jean Pierre Emmanuel Prud'homme. (with 14 ) It is also associated with the community of

Isle Brevelle Isle Brevelle is a community, which began as a Louisiana Creole settlement and is located in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. For many years this area was known as Côte Joyeuse (English: ''Joyous Coast''). Location Located in the Natchitoches ...

, a local Creole community.

History

19th century

The original owners, Jean-Pierre Emanuel Prud'homme and his wife Marie Catherine (Lambre) Prud'homme, completed building the Oakland Plantation house in 1821. The family tradition claims that Oakland was one of the first plantations in the area to grow cotton on a large scale, which was cultivated and harvested by enslaved African Americans. They also raised and used farm animals, which were served by extant buildings, such as the dipping vat, the turkey shed, the mule barn, two ''pigeonniers'', and several chicken coops. The Prud'hommes also owned and operated a general store on the plantation, which also housed the Bermuda

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

for many years. The plantation flourished in the 19th century.

20th century

Descendant J. Alphonse Prud'homme won the gold medal at the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

for growing the highest-grade cotton in the South. The

was authorized by Congress in 1994, with support by US Senator J. Bennett Johnston (R-LA).Ginger Thompson, "Reaping What Was Sown On the Old Plantation; A Landowner Tells Her Family's Truth. A Park Ranger Wants a Broader Truth."
''New York Times'', 22 June 2000; accessed 3 May 2018 In 1997, the

acquired the main buildings and surrounding land of Oakland Plantation for the park. The NPS has reached advanced stages in the preservation and conservation of the many outbuildings, and of the

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 ...

. They have completed furnishing interiors with furniture, paintings, and textiles as it was in the 1860s at the end of the antebellum plantation era. The park's program includes interpretation of emancipation and the history of

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

and

Creoles of color The Creoles of color are a historic ethnic group of Creole people that developed in the former French and Spanish colonies of Louisiana (especially in the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwestern Florida i.e. Pensacola, Flor ...

, and their descendants, who lived and worked on Oakland Plantation for nearly 100 years after 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 th ...

. They were all integral to the region's community life. The community has strongly associated the plantation with the Prud'homme family, many of whose descendants still reside in the area today. File:Overseer's house at Oakland Plantation, Natchitoches Parish IMG 3483.JPG, Overseer's house File:Slave quarters at Oakland Plantation, Natchitoches Parish IMG 3481.JPG, Slave quarters File:General view looking from northeast to store - Oakland Plantation, Plantation Store and Post Office, Route 494, Bermuda, Natchitoches Parish, LA HABS LA,35-BERM,2-O-1.tif, Plantation store and post office File:Oakland Plantation, Route 494, Bermuda, Natchitoches Parish, LA HABS LA,35-BERM,2-17.tif, Approach to Oakland plantation house

References

External links