All About New Orleans Plantation Tours

By Jocelyn Davidson


A tour of plantations of the South is the hallmark of a visit to New Orleans. The farms and houses are insightful of the rich history of New Orleans and Louisiana. These extensive farms have earned a place in the National Historic Landmarks for their history, architectural designs and relationship with significant historical events and people. If wishing to experience the year 1700 today, New Orleans plantation tours are for you.

1700 marks the year that most of these plantations were began. During this time, the economy was agriculture based and more farmers and arable land were required to drive this new economy. There has been a variety of crops grown on these farms on large scale over the years. The first was Indigo which was grown to provide a blue dye.

Years later, cotton, tobacco, sugarcane and other commercial crops were grown. The main staple food for farm owners, animals and slaves was rice and corn were grown all year round as a source of food. The houses that were constructed initially were just simple structures. As farming gained momentum and became more productive, these structures were replaced by much more complex and impressive structures.

Most of the homes are a mixture of Creole and Greek revival columns. Designs such as curved stairs and semi detached parts were the styles that prevailed in those years and were symbol for wealth. Surprisingly, many of these homes did not have indoor bathrooms and kitchens were separate from the main house. The stairs to the upper floors were located to the outside of a house!

The large and extensive farms and houses nearest New Orleans are found along River Road. They were located in sprawling areas bearing amazing designs. In addition, factories for sugar and cotton were also in the same compound making the plantation self contained. However, as a result of civil war, sugar unprofitability and diseases of tobacco contributed to these houses were destroyed.

Reconstruction of houses began in Oak Valley in 1925. One of them is at St. Joseph which has a still operational sugarcane farm. Destrehan and Ormond are other plantations near New Orleans and are about only two miles apart. There are probably the oldest in the region. One of the largest is Nottoway which houses up to fifty rooms.

There are volunteer tour guides who teach extensively about the historic architecture of these homes. A visitor also has the chance to know about the 1700s white gold which was sugar. Some of these houses are available to members of public to visit. Others have bed and breakfast where people have a chance to have a feel of life of 1800s. In addition, some are also open for people to hold weddings, honeymoons and parties.

All of these farms and houses tell a different unique story of its past and mystique. Alive in these houses is the history of owners, their lives, pride and slaves. From time to time events are also held on the grounds of particular houses. Taking a tour of these plantations is a sure way to know how the year 1700 felt like.




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