We traveled a little less than an hour outside of New Orleans to visit Oak Alley Plantation, one of many former sugar cane plantations in the region located along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The plantation tour includes a guided tour of the big house and information about the Roman family who built the house. The big house was a gift from Jacques Telesphore Roman to his bride Celina to entice her to move out of the lively city atmosphere of New Orleans. The splendid Greek Revival style house took three years (1837-1839) to build.
Jacques Telesphore Roman
Celina Roman
The dining room at Oak Alley
The nursery
Gardens at Oak Alley
When Jacques Roman acquired Oak Alley in 1836 it was already an established working sugarcane plantation with 57 slaves. Slavery was present on this plantation from approximately 1835 to the end of the civil war in 1865. There is an excellent exhibit on slavery at Oak Alley and self-guided tour through re-created slave quarters. Topics presented along the tour include healthcare, punishment, and life after emancipation. The nonprofit foundation who runs this tourist attraction has done a nice job in providing an experience that does not glamorize the life of a plantation owner.
Re-created slave quarters
Slave quarters exhibit
Another look in the slave quarters
While valuable, sugar was also the most demanding commodity to produce. From planting to harvesting to refining, each step required an exceptional amount of physical labor. Once sugar cane has been harvested it is crushed using an animal-powered mill, and then heated, clarified and evaporated through a series of four different sized kettles in what is called the “Jamaica Train”. The final liquid would crystallize over the course of 24 hours, creating granulated sugar, if everything went well. By the Civil War large sugar plantations owned an average of 110 slaves. Through the years at Oak Alley, records indicate that there were a total of 220 slaves.
Farm tools on display
One of many large kettles on site that was used to turn sugar cane to sugar
A tribute to the 220 slaves who built and labored at Oak Alley Plantation
Oak Alley is named for its distinguishing visual feature, an alley (French allée) or canopied path, created by a double row of southern live oak trees about 800 feet long, planted in the early 1700’s, long before the present house was built. An early settler planted 28 Virginia Live Oaks in two equal rows spaced 80 feet apart. The allée or tree avenue runs between the home and the Mississippi River. On hot days, the cool breeze from the Mississippi River is funneled up to the main house through the tree alley. The largest oak has a girth of 30 feet and a 127 foot spread of limbs. Live oaks have a life span of 600 years, meaning these 300 year old trees are middle aged. The green growth seen on the limbs and trunks of the trees is called resurrection fern, which is an air plant that grows on the bark of large trees. Resurrection fern can survive long periods of drought by shriveling up and appearing brown and dead. Once water is available, the fern will uncurl and reopen to a vibrant green.
A view of the tree alley from the big house
Oak Alley features 300 year old oak trees
Oak Alley is located at 3645 Highway 18 (Great River Road), Vacherie, Louisiana 70090. There are many other plantation tours available in the region including San Francisco and Laura Plantation. We chose to drive ourselves, but for those without a car, tour companies in downtown New Orleans offer bus tours to plantations. It was much cheaper to drive ourselves. Admission price was $25/adult. There is a restaurant and inn on site. We had lunch at the restaurant and found the food to be fine but nothing special. While in New Orleans we also toured the French Quarter; toured Mardi Gras World where the floats are made; attended Carnival and Mardi Gras Day parades and toured the National WWII Museum and the New Orleans Jazz Museum. We were staying in our RV at the Pontchartrain Landing RV Park.
