Getting Here - You'll Be Unpacking In No Time.
It
all starts with the journey to get here. Fortunately, planning a
Louisiana trip is easy! Located in the southeastern part of the Bayou
State, New Orleans Plantation Country lies between New Orleans and Baton
Rouge along the Mississippi River. That means two major airports are
just minutes away. If you prefer to hit the road, you’ll find easy
access to the area through three interstate highways – I-10, I-55 and
I-49 - travel to Louisiana doesn't get much easier. In fact, the drive
to New Orleans Plantation Country is less than 8 hours from over a dozen
major cities across the South. So whether you checked your luggage, or
threw your bags in the trunk, you’ll be unpacking here in no time!
Average driving distances to New Orleans Plantation Country
Airports:
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
900 Airline Drive, Kenner, LA 70062
504-464-3547
View Our Official WebsiteBaton Rouge Metropolitan Airport
9430 Jackie Cochran Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70807
225-355-0333
View Our Official Website
Amtrak Train Stations:
1001 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
New Orleans, LA 70113
504-528-1610
View Our Official Website
404 Northwest Railroad Avenue
Hammond, LA 70401
985-345-6264
View Our Official Website
Getting Around New Orleans Plantation Country & Travel in Louisiana
Taxis
Taxi companies offering services to and from the airport and train station, as well as to all areas of the vicinity.
Need a charter? For specific information on chartering for your travel to Louisiana, please call the following:
Average driving distances to New Orleans Plantation Country
| In Miles | In Hours | ||
| Atlanta, GA | 495 | 7.5 | |
| Baton Rouge, LA | 50 | .75 | |
| Biloxi, MS | 115 | 2.0 | |
| Birmingham, AL | 365 | 5.75 | |
| Dallas, TX | 500 | 7.75 | |
| Houston, TX | 325 | 5.0 | |
| Jackson, MS | 165 | 2.5 | |
| Jacksonville, FL | 570 | 9.0 | |
| Little Rock, AR | 420 | 8.0 | |
| Mobile, AL | 170 | 2.75 | |
| Memphis, TN | 375 | 5.75 | |
| Nashville, TN | 560 | 8.75 | |
| New Orleans | 30 | .50 | |
| Pensacola, FL | 225 | 3.50 | |
| Shreveport, LA | 320 | 5.50 | |
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
900 Airline Drive, Kenner, LA 70062
504-464-3547
View Our Official WebsiteBaton Rouge Metropolitan Airport
9430 Jackie Cochran Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70807
225-355-0333
View Our Official Website
Amtrak Train Stations:
1001 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
New Orleans, LA 70113
504-528-1610
View Our Official Website
404 Northwest Railroad Avenue
Hammond, LA 70401
985-345-6264
View Our Official Website
Getting Around New Orleans Plantation Country & Travel in Louisiana
Taxis
Taxi companies offering services to and from the airport and train station, as well as to all areas of the vicinity.
- Oak Transport Service
985-652-8351
Click to Email Us
Need a charter? For specific information on chartering for your travel to Louisiana, please call the following:
- American Luxury Limousines
1-800-631-5466
504-269-5466
Click to Email Us
View Our Official Website - Flagship Limousine
1-800-259-6562
Click to Email Us
View Our Official Website
Hauntings and Ghostly Sightings
As
one of the oldest and most storied regions in America, it’s no surprise
that New Orleans Plantation Country claims a long and rich piece of
Louisiana haunted history. For generations, residents and visitors
alike have encountered earthbound entities, whose spirits have somehow
–and for some reason – remained behind. Perhaps not unexpectedly,
several of our majestic plantations, harboring ancient tales of the
Civil War, lost love, and sudden tragedy, are among the area’s most
popular locations for ghostly sightings.
In fact, some of the haunted plantation history here is so compelling, that a well-known team of investigators has visited New Orleans Plantation Country to analyze it firsthand. Two of our most famous plantations – Oak Alley and San Francisco – have been professionally investigated by the International Society for Paranormal Research. Led by renowned field parapsychologist Dr. Larry Montz, the ISPR team conducted investigations at both properties to determine if they are actively haunted, and to learn about the entities that inhabit the homes.
ISPR first conducted an investigation of the hauntings at Oak Alley Plantation in 1983. In 2003, they returned with a more sophisticated team of investigators, including professional Clairvoyants and state-of-the-art thermal imaging cameras. During the investigation, Dr. Montz’s team did observe several entities. Among them, they encountered the ghosts of some Confederate soldiers, who were standing out in front of the property at the time. The plantation’s spirits also include a 6 year-old boy, a young girl around 14 years-old, and several of the original women who owned and ran the house. In addition, the staff at Oak Alley has experienced poltergeist phenomena. According to one of the plantation’s guides, one tour group watched as a candle in the mansion’s dining room was thrown several feet across the room.
In 1996, the ISPR team first discovered that San Francisco Plantation is also actively haunted. As they did at Oak Alley, they returned in 2003 with a larger team of investigators and used thermal imaging cameras at the property. They not only experienced the home’s primary entity, but managed to capture phenomena on their thermal cam. In doing so, they confirmed what has long been believed … that the ghost of Charles Marmillion – one of the sons of the home’s original owner – does in fact haunt San Francisco Plantation.
All over the world, stories and myths and legends about hauntings are told, passed down and believed to be true. But some of the most beautiful and historic estates in New Orleans Plantation Country offer more than just hearsay and ghost stories. Here, paranormal experts have proven that there are actual haunted plantations in Louisiana.
History in Louisiana
In fact, some of the haunted plantation history here is so compelling, that a well-known team of investigators has visited New Orleans Plantation Country to analyze it firsthand. Two of our most famous plantations – Oak Alley and San Francisco – have been professionally investigated by the International Society for Paranormal Research. Led by renowned field parapsychologist Dr. Larry Montz, the ISPR team conducted investigations at both properties to determine if they are actively haunted, and to learn about the entities that inhabit the homes.
ISPR first conducted an investigation of the hauntings at Oak Alley Plantation in 1983. In 2003, they returned with a more sophisticated team of investigators, including professional Clairvoyants and state-of-the-art thermal imaging cameras. During the investigation, Dr. Montz’s team did observe several entities. Among them, they encountered the ghosts of some Confederate soldiers, who were standing out in front of the property at the time. The plantation’s spirits also include a 6 year-old boy, a young girl around 14 years-old, and several of the original women who owned and ran the house. In addition, the staff at Oak Alley has experienced poltergeist phenomena. According to one of the plantation’s guides, one tour group watched as a candle in the mansion’s dining room was thrown several feet across the room.
In 1996, the ISPR team first discovered that San Francisco Plantation is also actively haunted. As they did at Oak Alley, they returned in 2003 with a larger team of investigators and used thermal imaging cameras at the property. They not only experienced the home’s primary entity, but managed to capture phenomena on their thermal cam. In doing so, they confirmed what has long been believed … that the ghost of Charles Marmillion – one of the sons of the home’s original owner – does in fact haunt San Francisco Plantation.
All over the world, stories and myths and legends about hauntings are told, passed down and believed to be true. But some of the most beautiful and historic estates in New Orleans Plantation Country offer more than just hearsay and ghost stories. Here, paranormal experts have proven that there are actual haunted plantations in Louisiana.
History in Louisiana
In
1682, Robert de La Salle claimed the area between the Great Lakes and
the Gulf Coast for France, hoping to stop the British from colonizing
land west of the Appalachian Mountains. In 1718, the city of New Orleans
was founded at the mouth of the Mississippi, giving the French control
of traffic on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. A significant moment
when it comes to history in Louisiana.
Farmers were needed to provide food for the new colony, and as a buffer against the British. In 1720, German settlers sponsored by the French government began arriving in New Orleans and were given consignments 25 miles upriver between what is now Hahnville, in St. Charles Parish and Lucy, in St. John the Baptist Parish. The area became known as the German Coast, or La Côté de Les Allemands.
Their French sponsors provided tools and seeds, and friendly Indians taught them to cultivate native plants. The combination of rich alluvial soil and a long growing season produced abundant crops, but natural forces often worked against the farmers. Despite many hardships, they harvested enough rice, vegetables and fruit for themselves, and to sell in New Orleans.
Under French rule the Germans adopted the French language, culture and Catholic faith.
In 1764, Louisiana came under active Spanish rule, and Spain supported colonization on both sides of the Mississippi River spreading towards Baton Rouge.
In the 1750s descendants of French emigrants living in Nova Scotia – Acadians -- were expelled by the British. More than 5,000 Acadians came to Louisiana from 1764-1765. They were given provisions and land in Vacherie. The area became the Acadian Coast, or La Côté de Les Acadiens. Descendants of the Acadians are popularly known as Cajuns.
With each landing of immigrants, the Indians were pushed farther southeast. The various tribes had different languages and customs and were often at war with each other. As their numbers dwindled, they banded together and eventually all Indians in the area became the Houma tribe. Early Europeans in Louisiana tried to enslave the Indians, but were unsuccessful. A source of free labor was necessary to make the territory profitable, and the first enslaved Africans appear in the German Coast census of 1731.
From 1721 until 1797, worldwide demand made indigo, a plant used for blue dye, the area’s premier commercial crop. After a major crop loss from insect infestation, most farmers stopped growing indigo. Corn, a staple in all three parishes, was used to feed livestock and slaves. Rice had been a popular commercial crop, but soon was eclipsed by sugarcane. At the turn of the 19th century, sugarcane was the main crop on St. Charles Parish plantations. Cotton was the primary crop in St. John Parish where farms were smaller, with fewer slaves. Because cotton needed good drainage and was susceptible to disease, St. John planters eventually turned to sugarcane. The Houma Indians introduced early Acadians to native tobacco, and in St. James Parish Perique tobacco became second only to sugarcane as a cash crop.
By the 1790s, the German and Acadian coasts contained a rich mixture of French, Indian, German, enslaved Africans, Acadians and Spanish. Free men of color also lived in Louisiana—some came as free men and others were released from slavery or purchased their freedom. Both whites and free people of color owned slaves.
Their homes often started as modest abodes, but as the planters’ wealth grew, their houses were enlarged or replaced with new, more impressive homes. Simple Creole houses, with the addition of massive Greek Revival columns, curved stairs, semi-detached wings, and other architectural elements popular at the time, reflected the owner’s wealth.
In 1800, Louisiana reverted to French ownership before being sold by Napoleon to the United States in 1803. The Territory of Orleans was created, and in 1807 divided into nineteen districts. The new civic parishes kept the names of their church parishes—the German Coast became St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes, and the First Acadian Coast became St. James Parish.
In 1812, Louisiana became a state of the United States. By 1860 New Orleans was the country’s fourth-largest city and, by far, the largest city in the South. On January 26, 1861 Louisiana seceded from the United States, but did not join the Confederacy until March 1861. Thousands of local men fought battles in other states, but there were no major battles here. Skirmishes occurred in all three parishes.
After World War II, the sugar industry became more mechanized, and with better roads and more railroad lines, it was faster and easier to transport the product. The lumber industry began early in New Orleans Plantation Country, but in the late 1900s, large lumber companies came to the area. They brought machinery and built railroads to more efficiently harvest and transport timber they cut in the swamps.
In 1914, Mexican Petroleum purchased land in Destrehan. Within a few years, several oil refineries operated along the Mississippi River beside commercial vegetable crops and sugarcane fields. The chemical industry came to the area in the 1950's. National and international companies built plants and brought workers. As the population grew, so did the need for housing, commercial buildings, highways, schools and services.
New Orleans plantation history includes the loss of some of these homes with each move from agriculture to industry. Many of the grand homes in New Orleans Plantation Country are gone, but some remain to remind us of our heritage. The antebellum houses came from humble beginnings, and have been saved by the grace of caring people—some working with industry, others through historical preservation organizations, and a few homes have been owned and maintained by the same families for generations.
Farmers were needed to provide food for the new colony, and as a buffer against the British. In 1720, German settlers sponsored by the French government began arriving in New Orleans and were given consignments 25 miles upriver between what is now Hahnville, in St. Charles Parish and Lucy, in St. John the Baptist Parish. The area became known as the German Coast, or La Côté de Les Allemands.
Their French sponsors provided tools and seeds, and friendly Indians taught them to cultivate native plants. The combination of rich alluvial soil and a long growing season produced abundant crops, but natural forces often worked against the farmers. Despite many hardships, they harvested enough rice, vegetables and fruit for themselves, and to sell in New Orleans.
Under French rule the Germans adopted the French language, culture and Catholic faith.
In 1764, Louisiana came under active Spanish rule, and Spain supported colonization on both sides of the Mississippi River spreading towards Baton Rouge.
In the 1750s descendants of French emigrants living in Nova Scotia – Acadians -- were expelled by the British. More than 5,000 Acadians came to Louisiana from 1764-1765. They were given provisions and land in Vacherie. The area became the Acadian Coast, or La Côté de Les Acadiens. Descendants of the Acadians are popularly known as Cajuns.
With each landing of immigrants, the Indians were pushed farther southeast. The various tribes had different languages and customs and were often at war with each other. As their numbers dwindled, they banded together and eventually all Indians in the area became the Houma tribe. Early Europeans in Louisiana tried to enslave the Indians, but were unsuccessful. A source of free labor was necessary to make the territory profitable, and the first enslaved Africans appear in the German Coast census of 1731.
From 1721 until 1797, worldwide demand made indigo, a plant used for blue dye, the area’s premier commercial crop. After a major crop loss from insect infestation, most farmers stopped growing indigo. Corn, a staple in all three parishes, was used to feed livestock and slaves. Rice had been a popular commercial crop, but soon was eclipsed by sugarcane. At the turn of the 19th century, sugarcane was the main crop on St. Charles Parish plantations. Cotton was the primary crop in St. John Parish where farms were smaller, with fewer slaves. Because cotton needed good drainage and was susceptible to disease, St. John planters eventually turned to sugarcane. The Houma Indians introduced early Acadians to native tobacco, and in St. James Parish Perique tobacco became second only to sugarcane as a cash crop.
By the 1790s, the German and Acadian coasts contained a rich mixture of French, Indian, German, enslaved Africans, Acadians and Spanish. Free men of color also lived in Louisiana—some came as free men and others were released from slavery or purchased their freedom. Both whites and free people of color owned slaves.
Their homes often started as modest abodes, but as the planters’ wealth grew, their houses were enlarged or replaced with new, more impressive homes. Simple Creole houses, with the addition of massive Greek Revival columns, curved stairs, semi-detached wings, and other architectural elements popular at the time, reflected the owner’s wealth.
In 1800, Louisiana reverted to French ownership before being sold by Napoleon to the United States in 1803. The Territory of Orleans was created, and in 1807 divided into nineteen districts. The new civic parishes kept the names of their church parishes—the German Coast became St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes, and the First Acadian Coast became St. James Parish.
In 1812, Louisiana became a state of the United States. By 1860 New Orleans was the country’s fourth-largest city and, by far, the largest city in the South. On January 26, 1861 Louisiana seceded from the United States, but did not join the Confederacy until March 1861. Thousands of local men fought battles in other states, but there were no major battles here. Skirmishes occurred in all three parishes.
After World War II, the sugar industry became more mechanized, and with better roads and more railroad lines, it was faster and easier to transport the product. The lumber industry began early in New Orleans Plantation Country, but in the late 1900s, large lumber companies came to the area. They brought machinery and built railroads to more efficiently harvest and transport timber they cut in the swamps.
In 1914, Mexican Petroleum purchased land in Destrehan. Within a few years, several oil refineries operated along the Mississippi River beside commercial vegetable crops and sugarcane fields. The chemical industry came to the area in the 1950's. National and international companies built plants and brought workers. As the population grew, so did the need for housing, commercial buildings, highways, schools and services.
New Orleans plantation history includes the loss of some of these homes with each move from agriculture to industry. Many of the grand homes in New Orleans Plantation Country are gone, but some remain to remind us of our heritage. The antebellum houses came from humble beginnings, and have been saved by the grace of caring people—some working with industry, others through historical preservation organizations, and a few homes have been owned and maintained by the same families for generations.
Recipes
Please
see below for New Orleans Plantation Country recipes. We hope you enjoy
this taste of Louisiana, and we know you'll want to make dining an
historic occasion when you visit!
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