The Germantown Colony and Museum is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

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 parish seat and largest city is Minden. As of the 2020 census, the Webster Parish population was 36,967. ...

about north of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

in northwestern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, USA. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

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 In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

: 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 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Reeves County, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. B ...

, 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 parish seat and largest city is Minden. As of the 2020 census, the Webster Parish population was 36,967. Pu ...

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, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop at Germantown Museum File:MVI_2591_Sugar_cane_press_at_Germantown_Colony.jpg,

Sugar cane 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 ...

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 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 Open-air museums in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Webster Parish, Louisiana Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana 1835 establishments in Louisiana 1870s disestablishments in Louisiana {{Louisiana-NRHP-stub