Visit Whitney Plantation in LA

Come along on a tour of the Whitney Plantation, a non-profit museum dedicated to the history of slavery, on a historical site, a sugar, rice and indigo plantation in Edgard, LA, which operated from 1752 to 1975. 

When I visited my sister in November, we took a day trip from Covington and went to the Whitney Plantation for a visit to the historic 200 acre site in Louisiana. This is the third plantation that I’ve toured down there and each one of them are unique and interesting historic sites in the region. These plantations were dotted along the Mississippi River during the days of slave trading and Whitney is a sugar, indigo and rice plantation. Some plantations tell the history story from the perspective of the plantation owners and the big houses, but Whitney tells the story of the slaves who lived here and worked here during that time period. The museum preserves over a dozen historic structures, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Whitney Plantation Historic District.

We did the self-guided audio tour, with a headset that told us exactly what we were looking at for each stop along the tour.

A German immigrant purchased the property in 1752 and established a small indigo plantation, in later years transitioning into a sugar plantation, a highly profitable venture back then.

The plantation ceased operations in 1975 and the 2 original slave cabins were still occupied at that time by workers and families who had worked the property throughout the 20th century. It changed hands many times over the years.

In 1999, John Cummings purchased part of the plantation back from a big corporation who was going to turn the property into a large rayon manufacturing plant. When he realized the magnitude of all the slaves who had passed through the plantation, he embarked on a 14 year restoration process to eventually open the plantation to the public as a museum that focused entirely on the lives of enslaved people.

It was quite a fascinating tour and really did bring the history of the plantation back to the slaves who lived and worked here.

The Big House wasn’t the focus of this tour, but it was still there, although not as grand as many other plantation homes I’ve toured. The inside wasn’t open for us to tour. Whitney Plantation opened to the public just 10 years ago, in December 2014.

The property was absolutely stunning and you can just feel the history as you’re walking among the live oak trees, with their majestic dipping branches.

The Big House

Most plantations have these beautiful allees of oak tree canopies and this one was beautiful as well.

Back of the house.

Plantation houses had their kitchens outside in a separate location.

One of several historical buildings on the plantation, the stable.

Blacksmith’s shop

The Jail

The property is majestic and it was such an interesting journey through the history of this plantation.

One of the original slave cabins that has been preserved on the land.

Sugar production was such a huge part of the plantations in Louisiana.

There are many slave memorials along the way as you do the walking tour through the property.

Field of Angels commemorates the small children who were slaves and the many who died along the way, way before they were grown, due to the harshness of plantation life as a slave.

This final memorial honors the over 107,000 slaves who were brought into Louisiana between 1719, when slaves ships first arrived and 1820.

Talking about slavery is not always an easy subject to broach, but it is part of our American history, especially in the South. I appreciate the efforts by the Whitney Plantation to commemorate this tragic and harsh period of our history in such a meaningful way. I think anyone who visits would do so with a sober view of this time in history and thankful it’s behind us. I would highly recommend a tour of the Louisiana plantations, they are beautiful to take in for the scenery and also for the history.

I also toured Oak Alley and Houmas Home and Garden in Louisiana. All are worth a visit! There are more to visit, so I hope to get to a few more when I journey down to Louisiana again to see my family.

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