Southdown Plantation
Southdown Plantation
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File:Southdown1.JPG | |
The restored plantation house as it appears today.
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Location | Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana |
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Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1858[2] |
NRHP Reference # | 74002188[1] |
Added to NRHP | January 18, 1974 |
Southdown Plantation is a historic Southern plantation in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.
Founding and early history
Southdown Plantation was founded in 1828 by Stephen Minor, former secretary to the Spanish Governor of Louisiana, Manuel Gayoso de Lemos.[3] The land had first been a Spanish land grant and was later owned by brothers Jim and Rezin Bowie,[4] who began planting and harvesting indigo there.[5] Minor purchased the land, approximately 1,020 acres, together with James Dinsmore. In 1831, sugarcane became the principle crop, and the first sugar mill was built in 1846.[6] By 1852, Southdown was home to 233 slaves, most of whom lived in family units on the property.[7]
The first plantation house was built by Minor's son, William J. Minor, in 1858, and was named for a breed of sheep that the family raised.[5] The house was built of hand-fired brick and wood from cypress and pine trees that grow in the area.[6]
The original one-story brick home was expanded in 1893, when a second story and Virginia style colonnaded walkways were added.[8] In the same year, Favrile glass panels depicting the plantation, palmetto leaves, magnolia branches, and sugar cane stalks were installed in the house.[6] The plantation consisted of over 10,000 acres of sugar cane fields, a sugar mill, and a race track.[4] Southdown Plantation was instrumental in launching and sustaining the sugar industry in the area, ensuring the survival of the crop by developing a variety of sugar cane that was resistant to mosaic disease.[6]
The Minor family was known for frequently entertaining guests and hosting many extravagant balls and receptions.[8]
Modern era
During the Great Depression, the Minor family lost ownership of the house.[4] In 1979, the Southdown sugar mill was closed, and its parts were shipped to and reassembled in Guatemala, where it continued operation. It was the last of the 86 sugar mills that had operated in Terrebonne Parish during the sugar boom of the 19th century.[6]
In 1974, the plantation was added to the National Register of Historic places, and in the following year, the property was donated to the Terrebonne Historical and Cultural Society by Valhi, Incorporated, a subsidiary of Southdown Sugar.[4][6] While the plantation house was being renovated, the original 1893 pink and green paint scheme was discovered and restored to the walls. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, the plantation house and servants' quarters were open to the public as a museum.[6]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ De Bachelle Seebold, p. 220.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Butler, p. 63.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Federal Writers' Project, p. 581.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Southdown Museum.
- ↑ Patton Malone, p. 292.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 De Bachelle Seebold, pp. 220-21.
- Books
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- Web
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External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
- Official web site
- Pages with broken file links
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
- Sugar plantations in Louisiana
- Houses in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
- Museums in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
- Historic house museums in Louisiana
- Plantation houses in Louisiana
- National Register of Historic Places in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana