Full Answer
What is the history of Laurel Valley sugar plantation?
A view of the ruins of a brick sugar mill on Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation in Thibodaux, Louisiana. I n 1832 Tennessee native Joseph W. Tucker established Laurel Valley sugar plantation along Bayou Lafourche in Thibodaux on land he purchased from Etienne Boudreaux, an Acadian exile who had settled there in 1790.
Who owns Bayou Lafourche plantation?
The plantation was owned by Joseph Tucker, a Virginian, who bought more than 50,000 acres of land along Bayou Lafourche. The earliest structures on the property date to the 1830s.
Who was the first owner of the Locoul plantation?
The first owner, Guillaume Benjamin Demézière Duparc, lived at the plantation for 4 years, dying in 1808, 3 years after the house was completed. His daughter Elisabeth married into the Locoul family. Generations later, Laura Locoul Gore, who was born in the big house in 1861, inherited the plantation after she had married and moved to New Orleans.
What happened to Wormald plantation in Louisiana?
In 1892 Wormald was forced to turn it over to creditors. Frank Barker and J. Wilson Lepine were experienced planters who had for years successfully run another smaller operation at Melodia Plantation just a few miles south of Laurel Valley along Bayou Lafourche.
How old is Laurel Valley Plantation?
Laurel Valley Sugar PlantationArea1,230 acres (500 ha)Built1850Architectural styleAmerican Renaissance, Queen Anne RevivalNRHP reference No.7800142610 more rows
Can you tour Laurel Valley Plantation?
While the grounds are private property and are closed to visitors, you can still view the history of sugar farming at the restored plantation store and museum at the front of the property.
Where was the Tucker plantation located?
In 1832 Tennessee native Joseph W. Tucker established Laurel Valley sugar plantation along Bayou Lafourche in Thibodaux on land he purchased from Etienne Boudreaux, an Acadian exile who had settled there in 1790. Tucker brought twenty-two slaves with him from Tennessee.
Where is home town filmed?
Laurel, MississippiHome Town is an American television series starring husband and wife team, Ben and Erin Napier, that premiered on January 24, 2016 on HGTV. The married couple restores Southern homes in Laurel, Mississippi.
When did the Thibodaux Massacre happen?
November 22, 1887Thibodaux massacre / Start date
How many slaves did Laurel Valley Plantation have?
135 slavesThe oldest cabins were built in the 1830s to house the slaves of the Laurel Valley Plantation near Thibodaux. As many as 135 slaves toiled in the sugarcane fields and lived here, touching these same bare cypress walls. Time has not erased those memories.
Who was the first African American that was born?
William TuckerWilliam Tucker, the first Black child born (recorded) in the American colonies, was baptized on January 3, 1624, in Jamestown, Virginia.
Who was first enslaved?
First enslaved Africans arrive in Jamestown, setting the stage for slavery in North America. On August 20, 1619, “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrive in the British colony of Virginia and are then bought by English colonists.
Who owns the Laurel Valley plantation?
Laurel Valley Plantation remains a sugar cane farm to this day, owned by family members of the Lepines.
What is the name of the plantation in the Laurel Valley?
Laurel Valley Plantation history. The story of Laurel Valley begins with Bayou Lafourche. The name, Lafourche, from the French for “the fork,” alludes to the way the bayou forks from the Mississippi River. Once the main branch of the Mississippi, Bayou Lafourche diverged from the river about 800 years ago.
What was the oldest house in the Boudreaux family?
The Boudreaux family home, built in 1816, is the oldest surviving structure on property. As subsistence farmers, the family grew crops, such as corn and rice, along with cotton and indigo that Mrs. Boudreaux and her daughters would have weaved into blue cottonade clothing.
Why was the Bayou Lafourche important?
During the 1820’s Bayou Lafourche suddenly became a coveted location for an influx of sugar planters due to its fertile lands and its connection to the Gulf of Mexico on one end and the Mississippi River and New Orleans on the other.
How many barrels of molasses were produced at Laurel Valley?
In 1852, the year of J.W. Tucker’s death, Laurel Valley produced 685 hogsheads of sugar (1,100 lbs each), and 1,458 barrels of molasses. After his death the operation of the plantation was taken over by his cousin and business partner, Caleb Tucker, who even married his cousin’s widow, Marcelline Emma Gaude, in 1855.
What disease caused the Laurel Valley to die?
Laurel Valley suffered along with the rest of the Louisiana sugar industry when the crop became infected in the 1920’s with mosaic disease, a systemic infection that caused the cane to die prematurely, greatly reducing the weight and quantity of sucrose in the cane.
How many slaves did Tucker have?
In his time as owner the plantation expanded to encompass nearly 5,000 acres, constructed dozens of buildings including a sugar mill, and his workforce grew to include about 130 slaves.
Where is the Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation?
A view of the ruins of a brick sugar mill on Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation in Thibodaux, Louisiana. I n 1832 Tennessee native Joseph W. Tucker established Laurel Valley sugar plantation along Bayou Lafourche in Thibodaux on land he purchased from Etienne Boudreaux, an Acadian exile who had settled there in 1790.
When was the Gaude plantation burned?
The house he built for his fifteen-year-old wife, Marceline Gaude, was burned at the Battle of Lafourche Crossing during the Civil War; the present structure dates from circa 1880. Over the decades, the plantation increased in size, experiencing its greatest prosperity in the sugar-boom years between 1890 and 1924.
Who was the first owner of the Louisiana plantation?
The first owner, Guillaume Benjamin Demézière Duparc, lived at the plantation for 4 years, dying in 1808, 3 years after the house was completed. His daughter Elisabeth married into the Locoul family. Generations later, Laura Locoul Gore, who was born in the big house in 1861, inherited the plantation after she had married and moved to New Orleans. Her memoir was published posthumously in 2000. A local historian wrote about her ancestors of the early nineteenth century in Louisiana:
When was Laura Plantation built?
Constructed in 1804-1805, the "big house" at Laura Plantation has a raised brick basement story and a briquette-entre-poteaux (brick between posts) upper floor. Much of the house was pre-fabricated, as its wooden beams were pre-cut off-site and arrived ready to be installed.
What is the name of the plantation in Louisiana?
Formerly known as Duparc Plantation, it is significant for its early 19th-century Créole-style raised big house and several surviving outbuildings, including two slave cabins. It is one of only 15 plantation complexes in Louisiana with this many complete structures.
How many slaves were there at the Duparc plantation?
Near each cabin they kept a vegetable garden plus a chicken coop and/or pigpen. By the time of the Civil War, there were 186 slaves working the farm. The DuParc Plantation exported commodity crops of indigo, rice, pecans, and sugar cane. Front of the big house, painted in multiple colors.
What happened to the plantation house in 2004?
On August 9, 2004, the plantation house was significantly damaged by an electrical fire which destroyed 80% of the house, including the kitchen wing behind the house.
What is the name of the village in the 1700s?
History. In the early 1700s, a large Colapissa village called Tabiscanja, meaning "long river view," was located on high ground above the Mississippi River in this area. In 1785, Acadian refugees settled on the site. In 1804, the Frenchman Guillaume Duparc, a naval veteran from the American Revolutionary War, had petitioned then- President Thomas ...
Why is the slave quarter important?
Because of its importance, it has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The complex is used to interpret history and for heritage tourism.
Overview
History
The plantation was owned by Joseph Tucker, a Virginian, who bought more than 50,000 acres of land along Bayou Lafourche. The earliest structures on the property date to the 1830s. It was at one time the largest producer of sugar in Lafourche Parish, and a mill was built on the property for this purpose.
As many as 135 slaves lived and worked on the property prior to the Civil War. While the main ho…
Laurel Valley today
With over fifty original structures remaining it is the largest surviving 19th- and 20th-century sugar plantation complex left in the United States and is still a working sugarcane farm. The general store on the property is open to the public, displaying tools and farm implements used in the cultivation of sugar cane as well as locally made arts and crafts. The store wasn't originally at the plantation, it had to be moved there. Its proprietor was Leon Z. Boudreaux.
Contributing properties
The historic 1,230 acres (500 ha) district comprises about 80 buildings and structures dating from c.1850 to c.1910:
• Plantation Church, also known as Old Fountain Missionary Baptist Church, 29°47′11″N 90°47′01″W / 29.78633°N 90.78352°W , comprises the adjacent cemetery.
• Double Creole House #1, 29°47′15″N 90°47′04″W / 29.78759°N 90.78452°W , built c.1890.
Popular culture
Several movies have been filmed at Laurel Valley, including Angel Heart, Crazy in Alabama, A Gathering of Old Men, Interview with the Vampire, A Lesson Before Dying, Double Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White, and Ray.The Depeche Mode Music Video "Freelove" was also filmed on the plantation.
See also
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
External links
• City of Thibodeaux: Areas of Interest - includes visiting information for the Laurel Valley Village/Plantation Museum and Country Store
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. LA-1, "Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation, State Route 308, Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, LA", 17 photos, 2 measured drawings, 23 data pages, 3 photo caption pages