Oak Alley Plantation facts for kids
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Oak Alley Plantation
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Oak Alley Plantation mansion
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| Nearest city | Vacherie, Louisiana, U.S. |
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| Area | 25 acres (10 ha) |
| Built | 1839 |
| Architect | Joseph Pilié |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 74002187 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | December 2, 1974 |
| Designated NHL | December 2, 1974 |
Oak Alley Plantation is a famous historic plantation located in Vacherie, near the Mississippi River. It's known for its amazing double row of southern live oak trees. These trees form a beautiful, shady path, or "allée" (which is French for alley), that is about 800 feet (240 meters) long. They were planted long before the main house was built!
This special place is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. It's famous for its beautiful buildings and gardens, and also for a cool farming trick: a gardener here figured out how to graft pecan trees in 1846–47. Grafting is like joining parts of two plants so they grow as one. The plantation was first called Bon Séjour, which means "pleasant stay" in French.
Contents
History of Oak Alley
The Roman Family's Time
The plantation, originally named Bon Séjour, started as a sugarcane farm. Valcour Aime, a very rich man known as the "King of Sugar," bought the land in 1830. In 1836, he traded this land with his brother-in-law, Jacques Telesphore Roman.
The next year, people who were enslaved by Jacques Roman began building the grand mansion. It was finished in 1839. Jacques Roman's father-in-law, Joseph Pilié, was an architect and likely designed the house.
The Amazing Pecan Tree
Antoine, a slave who worked as a gardener at Oak Alley, was very skilled at grafting plants. In the winter of 1846, after many tries, he successfully grew a new kind of pecan tree. This pecan had such a thin shell that you could crack it with your bare hands! People called it the 'paper shell' pecan.
Later, this pecan won a prize at a big show in Philadelphia in 1876 and was named the Centennial Variety. These trees became very popular in southern Louisiana, where pecans were an important crop. Sadly, Antoine's original trees were later removed to make space for more sugarcane.
Changes After the Civil War
Jacques Roman passed away in 1848. His wife, Celina Pilié Roman, then managed the plantation. However, Celina found it hard to run a sugar farm and spent a lot of money. This almost caused the family to lose the estate.
In 1859, her son, Henri, took over. The American Civil War (1861-1865) did not damage the plantation buildings. But the war and the end of slavery made it very difficult to make money from the farm. Henri fell deeply into debt.
In 1866, the plantation was sold at an auction for $32,800. It was bought by John Armstrong and Hubert Bonzano.
The Stewart Family's Restoration
After the Roman family, several owners tried to keep Oak Alley going. But the cost of looking after the large buildings was too high, and by the 1920s, the mansion was in poor condition.
In 1925, Andrew Stewart bought the property as a special gift for his wife, Josephine. Josephine hired an architect named Richard Koch to help fix up the house and make it modern again.
At that time, a plant disease had hurt the sugarcane industry. So, the Stewarts decided to run Oak Alley Plantation as a cattle ranch. Josephine had grown up on a cattle ranch in Texas, so she knew a lot about it. Later, in the 1960s, sugarcane farming returned to the plantation.
The Stewarts were the last family to live in the mansion. When Josephine Stewart passed away in 1972, she left the historic house and its grounds to the Oak Alley Foundation. This foundation then opened the plantation to the public, so everyone could visit and learn about its history.
Mansion and Grounds
Mansion Architecture
The mansion's design is in the Greek Revival architecture style. It has a square shape with a main hall running from the front to the back on both floors. The rooms have tall ceilings and big windows.
Outside, there are 28 Doric columns all around the house. These columns match the 28 oak trees in the famous alley! Large oak trees like these were a common sight at grand homes in the Mississippi River Valley before the Civil War.
The mansion's walls are 16 inches (41 cm) thick and made of bricks from the site. The outside is covered in stucco and painted white to look like marble. The roof is made of slate.
During the restoration in the 1920s, some changes were made. A kitchen was added on the first floor, and the main staircase was moved to the central hall. The black and white marble floors were replaced with wood.
Beautiful Grounds
The grounds around the mansion are also lovely. Josephine Stewart added a beautiful formal garden that separates the house from the old garage. The old garage now holds the Sugarcane Theater, where you can watch a video and see exhibits about the history of sugarcane farming. There's also a blacksmith shop and the Stewart family graveyard on the property.
See also
- St. Joseph Plantation: a plantation located next door
- List of plantations in Louisiana
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana
- National Register of Historic Places listings in St. James Parish, Louisiana
