Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site [LA]

Description

Fort St. Jean Baptiste was established by the French in 1716 to prevent the Spanish in Texas from entering French Louisiana. The fort proved crucial to trade among the French, Spanish, and local Native Americans. In 1762, with the loss of the French and Indian War, France ceded the Louisiana Territory to Spain. Initially used for trade purposes, the fort was eventually abandoned by the Spanish as it lacked an obvious military purpose. The historic site contains a reconstruction of the fort.

The site offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and a picnic site.

Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site [LA]

Description

The 371-acre Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site preserves the cotton plantation of Daniel Turnbull, one of the richest men in the nation during his lifetime. The 1835 plantation home still contains many of its original furnishings. The site also includes extensive gardens, a doctor's office, and a barn, as well as 10 other historic structures.

The site offers tours, period rooms, educational programs, gardens, and a picnic area.

Marksville State Historic Site [LA]

Description

The Marksville State Historic Site is located on a bluff overlooking the Old River, and was the site of an Indian ceremonial ground. The site is believed by archaeologists to have national significance, and is thought to have been created by a subset of the Hopewell Indians of Ohio. The site is a National Historic Landmark.

The historic site offers guided tours, as well as exhibits and presentations in the park's visitor center. The website offers a history of the site, visitor information, and a short video commemorating the historical significance of the site.

Poverty Point State Historic Site [LA]

Description

The 200-acre Poverty Point State Historic Site preserves Native American earthworks dating from between 1650 and 500 BC. The mounds of a 3/4-mile diameter partial octagon, six rows deep, are believed to have served as shelter foundations. Goods from throughout the United States suggest that the inhabitants were part of an extensive trade network. A museum is located on site.

The site offers exhibits, guided tours, tram tours, educational programs a 2.6-mile hiking trail, and a picnic area. The website offers a link to an informative video.

Houmas House Plantation and Gardens [LA]

Description

The Houmas House Plantation and Gardens is a historic estate in the vicinity of New Orleans. The land was originally granted to the Houmas people, who then sold it to Maurice Conway and Alexander Latil in the 18th-century. From there, the site was developed into a sugar plantation, eventually becoming the nation's largest sugar producer. The Greek Revival primary residence on site today was completed in 1828. The plantation suffered economic failure during the Great Depression, and ceased to be a working agricultural site. More recently, the house has been seen in the 1964 Bette Davis film Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte and the televised competition Top Chef. Today, the house contains period furnishings.

The plantation offers guided tours, period rooms, and 38-acres of gardens.

Historic New Orleans Collection [LA]

Description

The Historic New Orleans Collection, housed in a complex of historic French Quarter structures, is a museum, research center, and publisher. The collection's focus is the history and culture of both New Orleans and the Gulf South. The museum includes the Williams Gallery, which hosts temporary exhibits; Louisiana History Galleries, which depict state history; and a house museum, the Williams House. The Williams House is an Italianate townhouse built in 1889. The interior is interpreted in the style of the mid 20th-century, when General L. Kemper and Leila Williams, who instigated the collection, lived on site. This residence is the only French Quarter home open to the public which contains original furnishings and decorative arts objects. The Williams Research Center provides access to more than 35,000 library items and 350,000 artifacts.

The collection offers exhibits, period rooms, self-guided tours of the Williams Gallery, guided tours of the Louisiana History Galleries and Williams House, guided architectural tours, school tours of the Williams Gallery and Louisiana History Galleries, weekly curatorial talks, collections access, educator training programs, a school program about Creole cuisine history, and outreach presentations for school. Reservations are required for groups of eight or more desiring a guided tour and for school tours. The website offers podcasts and a list of teacher resources available upon request.

Port Hudson State Historic Site [LA]

Description

The Port Hudson State Historic Site was the location of a Confederate Battery defending the Mississippi River. After the fall of New Orleans, the Confederacy needed to establish a new line of defense for the Mississippi River below its intersection with the Red River, an important supply route. The high bluffs next to the town of Port Hudson were an ideal spot. A Union siege was successful, marking the beginning of the end of Confederate control of the Mississippi River. After the siege, Port Hudson became a recruitment center for African American soldiers.

The historic site offers re-enactments, guided tours, and exhibits in the park visitor center. The website offers a history of the historic site and visitor information.

River Road African American Museum [LA]

Description

The River Road African American Museum presents the history of the African American population along the Mississippi River. Exhibits discuss cuisine, jazz, African American doctors and inventors, Louisiana's Underground Railroad, education, and other topics.

The museum offers exhibits; tours; a guided museum and neighborhood tour; a school tour drawing heavily upon art, music, and history with an optional scavenger hunt and/or storyteller; and educational programs on the Underground Railroad and plants which men and women seeking their freedom may have used for nourishment and medicine.

Centenary State Historic Site [LA]

Description

Centenary State Historic Site commemorates Centenary College, an all-male college (circa 1839-1908) which was previously located on today's historic site. With the college closed during the Civil War, both the Union and Confederate forces made use of the school structures for hospitals and/or area headquarters. The structures which remain on-site were the West Wing and the residence of a professor.

The site offers period rooms, tours, educational programs, and picnic facilities.

Los Adaes State Historic Site [LA]

Description

Los Adaes State Historic Site commemorates the Presidio Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes (Fort of Our Lady of Pilar at the Adaes), built by the Spanish in reaction to increasing French activity in the vicinity of east Texas. Los Adaes became the capital of the province of Texas in 1729. Although it would retain this title for 44 years, life at Los Adaes was difficult enough that inhabitants quickly became involved with illicit trade with the French in order to prevent starvation.

The site offers a historic structure, educational programs, and tours.