Evergreen Plantation (Wallace, Louisiana) on:
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Evergreen Plantation is a
The plantation includes 37 contributing buildings, all but eight of them built before the Civil War, making it one of the most complete plantation complexes in the state and the South. Of great significance are the 22 slave quarters, arranged in a double row along an ''
Louisiana's African American Heritage Trail
at LouisianaTravel.com
Evergreen Plantation Website
Louisiana Digital Library – Evergreen Plantation
{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Sugar plantations in Louisiana Historic house museums in Louisiana Museums in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Houses in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Houses completed in 1790 Plantation houses in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Slave cabins and quarters in the United States 1790s establishments in New Spain Greek Revival houses in Louisiana Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
located on the west side of the Mississippi River in St. John the Baptist Parish, near Wallace, Louisiana, and along Louisiana Highway 18. The main house was constructed mostly in 1790, and renovated to its current Greek Revival style
Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...
in 1832. The plantation's historical commodity crop was sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of 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 stout, jointed, fib ...
, cultivated by enslaved African Americans until emancipation.
The plantation operated until about 1930, when the Depression resulted in the owners abandoning the house. The plantation continued to produce sugar cane under the direction of the bank that owned it, and it is still a working sugar cane plantation today. The house was extensively restored during the 1940s, with 300,000 bricks from the demolished Uncle Sam Plantation used in the restoration.
Description
The plantation includes 37 contributing buildings, all but eight of them built before the Civil War, making it one of the most complete plantation complexes in the state and the South. Of great significance are the 22 slave quarters, arranged in a double row along an ''allée
In landscaping, an avenue (from the French), alameda (from the Portuguese and Spanish), or allée (from the French), is a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side, which is used, as its Latin source ' ...
'' of oak trees.
Among the outbuildings are a ''garconnière'', where young bachelors of the family or male guests could stay; a ''pigeonnier'' for keeping pigeons (a sign of status among the planters); an overseer's cottage; and late
19th-century barns.
National Historic Landmark
Because of its quality and significance, the plantation was included among the first 26 featured sites on theLouisiana African American Heritage Trail
Louisiana African American Heritage Trail () is a cultural heritage trail with 38 sites designated by the state of Louisiana, from New Orleans along the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge and Shreveport, with sites in small towns and plantations als ...
. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1992 for its rich architectural legacy. and The house is not currently open for tours. A “No Trespassing” sign is posted at the beginning of the dirt road that leads to the house.
Heiress and businesswoman, Matilda Geddings Gray (1885–1971) sponsored the restoration project in the 1940s, and it is now a U.S. National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
.
In popular culture
It is a production site of films such as ''Django Unchained
''Django Unchained'' ( ) is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Tarantino's A Band Apart and Columbia Pictures, it stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry W ...
'' (2012) and ''Antebellum'' (2020).
See also
* Whitney Plantation Historic District, also located in Wallace *Louisiana African American Heritage Trail
Louisiana African American Heritage Trail () is a cultural heritage trail with 38 sites designated by the state of Louisiana, from New Orleans along the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge and Shreveport, with sites in small towns and plantations als ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana
This is a complete list of National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana,.
The United States National Historic Landmark program is a program of the National Park Service, and recognizes structures, districts, objects, and similar resources according t ...
*Plantation complexes in the Southern United States
Plantation complexes were common on agricultural plantations in the Southern United States from the 17th into the 20th century. The complex included everything from the main residence down to the Pen (enclosure), pens for livestock. Until the ...
References
External links
Louisiana's African American Heritage Trail
at LouisianaTravel.com
Evergreen Plantation Website
Louisiana Digital Library – Evergreen Plantation
{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Sugar plantations in Louisiana Historic house museums in Louisiana Museums in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Houses in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Houses completed in 1790 Plantation houses in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Slave cabins and quarters in the United States 1790s establishments in New Spain Greek Revival houses in Louisiana Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana