Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation
|
|
Ruined mill at the plantation
|
|
 Location in Louisiana
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Along Laurel Valley Road, about 2.3 miles (3.7 km) east of Thibodaux |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Thibodaux, Louisiana |
| Area | 1,230 acres (500 ha) |
| Built | 1850 |
| Architectural style | American Renaissance, Queen Anne Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 78001426 |
| Added to NRHP | March 24, 1978 |
The Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation is a historic place located in Thibodaux, Louisiana. It is famous for being one of the largest and best-preserved old sugar plantations in the United States. Today, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's recognized as an important part of American history.
Contents
History of Laurel Valley
The story of Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation began in 1785. A French Acadian man named Etienne Boudreaux bought the land. Acadians were French-speaking people who were forced to leave their homes in Nova Scotia (a part of Canada) and many settled in southern Louisiana.
The Boudreaux family lived on the land for many years. We know that by 1810, 13 people lived there. The oldest building still standing on the property today is the Boudreaux family home, built in 1816.
From Family Farm to Sugar Giant
In 1832, a man named Joseph W. Tucker from Virginia bought the property. He bought a huge amount of land, about 5,000 acres, along Bayou Lafourche. A bayou is a slow-moving stream or a marshy outlet of a lake or river, common in Louisiana. Under Tucker's ownership, Laurel Valley became the biggest sugar producer in Lafourche Parish. A large mill was built on the property to process the sugarcane.
Before the American Civil War (which happened from 1861 to 1865), many people were forced to work on the plantation as slaves. About 135 enslaved people lived and worked there. During the Civil War, Union soldiers burned down the main house that Tucker had built. However, some older buildings, like the Creole cabins (built around 1845) and later shotgun houses (built around 1895), are still there.
Challenges and Reopening
The sugar mill stopped working in 1926. Over the years, the plantation faced damage from strong storms. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 caused a lot of harm. More recently, in 2021, Hurricane Ida also caused extensive damage, destroying more than a dozen original buildings.
Despite these challenges, Laurel Valley was able to reopen just one month after Hurricane Ida. Today, you can visit the plantation and take guided tours to learn about its history.
Laurel Valley Today
Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation is special because it still has about 40 of its original buildings. This makes it the largest surviving sugar plantation from the 1800s and early 1900s in the United States. It's also still a working sugarcane farm!
You can visit the general store on the property. It's open to everyone and shows off old tools and farm equipment that were used to grow sugarcane. You can also find local arts and crafts there. The store wasn't always at the plantation; it was moved there later. Leon Z. Boudreaux was the person who ran the store.
Laurel Valley Plantation was officially recognized as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1978. This means it's a very important historical site.
Historic Buildings and Structures
The Laurel Valley historic district covers about 1,230 acres. It includes around 80 buildings and structures that were built between the 1850s and the 1910s. These buildings show what life was like on a sugar plantation long ago.
Some of the important buildings you can find there include:
- The Plantation Church, also known as Old Fountain Missionary Baptist Church, which has a cemetery next to it.
- Different types of houses, like Double Creole Houses, Creole Houses, and Shotgun Houses. These were homes for the workers on the plantation.
- The Plantation Store, where people could buy supplies.
- Buildings related to the sugar production, like the Sugar Mill and an Exhaust Stack.
- Other structures like a Weighing Station, a Boarding House, and various sheds and pump houses.
While some buildings are no longer standing, many still remain, giving visitors a glimpse into the past.
See also
- Thibodaux massacre
- Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic District
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
