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Historic Sites in Louisiana
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Audubon State Historic Site
The main feature of the 100-acre woodland site is Oakley House,
where John James Audubon lived for a short time. Other
facilities include formal and kitchen gardens, a separate
kitchen and weaving room, a plantation barn, two slave cabins, a
picnic area with a shelter and a nature trail through the acres
of magnolia and poplar trees. For information call:
(888)677-2838
Fort Jesup State Historic Site
Fort Jesup is a reminder of a young nation's growing pains and a
relic of Louisiana's rich international heritage. When the
Louisiana Purchase Treaty of 1803 failed to clearly define the
western boundary of Louisiana, which was also the western border
of the country at that time, the United States claimed eastern
Texas and Spain claimed western Louisiana. The ensuing dispute
gave rise to the "Neutral Ground," an area where the laws of
neither nation were enforced. Soldiers and settlers were kept
out and rogues of various stripes ruled the region. After the
territorial boundary was finally fixed at the Sabine River by
the Florida Purchase Treaty of 1819, the United States built
Fort Jesup in 1822. Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor
established and commanded the garrison, which was originally
called Cantonment Jesup in honor of Taylor's good friend
Brigadier General Thomas Sidney Jesup. Taylor's troops managed
to establish law and order in the Neutral Ground and Fort Jesup
remained an important military post for nearly 25 years.
Soldiers at Fort Jesup performed many duties which opened the
frontier to American settlers: building roads, surveying the
frontier, clearing the Red River and negotiating treaties. The
garrison at Fort Jesup was also called on to control slave
insurrections in Alexandria and to catch criminals trying to
cross the border. The soldiers of Fort Jesup saw thousands of
settlers move into the province of Texas and then watched Texas
become independent of Mexican authority. In 1845, half of the
U.S. Army traveled through the Fort Jesup area en route to war
with Mexico. The fort was abandoned in 1846 when it was no
longer needed as a border outpost. In 1961, Fort Jesup was
designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department
of the Interior and, as such, joined a select group of
properties which have been recognized for their importance in
American history. Located on the historic San Antonio Road, the
fort was once a large complex of 82 structures. Four companies
of the Seventh Louisiana Infantry made up the first garrison of
Fort Jesup. There were 141 officers and men. Another 51 soldiers
manned Cantonment Taylor, a nearby temporary post established in
1823. Together they made this area the most securely garrisoned
outpost in Louisiana. For information call: (888)677-5378
Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site
The Mississippi River and surrounding waterways have long been
vital to the people and economy of Louisiana. The waters have
also posed a serious threat of flooding to the low-lying areas
of the state, making control of the waterways as important as
the waters themselves. As a distributary of the Mississippi
River and a route to the heartland of Louisiana through the
Atchafalaya Basin, Bayou Plaquemine was used as a navigable
artery centuries before the age of European exploration. The
bayou was documented as early as 1699 in the journal of Pierre
le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, who noted the large amount of
debris lodged at its mouth. For the next century and a half, the
waterway was dredged and widened, making it navigable during
high water to most vessels plying the Mississippi River. During
this time, Bayou Plaquemine served as a commercial transport
route, promoting settlement and economic prosperity in southwest
and northern Louisiana via the Atchafalaya, Red and other
rivers. After the Civil War, Bayou Plaquemine's natural access
to the Mississippi River was terminated. The repeated flooding
of Iberville Parish necessitated the construction of a levee
across the mouth of the bayou to function as a dam and bridge.
At the same time, through-traffic via the bayou was shut down.
The Plaquemine Lock was designed by Colonel George W. Goethals
(1858-1928), the assistant to the chief engineer of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. Goethals later gained distinction as
chairman and chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission for
the design and construction of the Panama Canal. He became the
first civil governor of the Canal Zone. When completed in 1909,
the lock was significant for having the highest fresh water lift
of any lock in the world -- 51 feet -- and a unique engineering
design that utilized a gravity flow principle. This was later
modernized by the installation of hydraulic pumps. The lock
served its purpose well by providing a short-cut from the
Mississippi River into Louisiana's interior. By 1925, Bayou
Plaquemine had become the northern terminus of the Intracoastal
Canal system. For information call: (877)987-7158
Poverty Point State Historic Site
The site features ancient Native American earthworks which date
back to 12 centuries before the birth of Christ. A museum
includes an audio-visual presentation and numerous artifacts
found on the site. An archaeological laboratory, picnic areas,
an observation tower, restrooms and self-guided hiking trails
complete the facility. For information call: (888)926-5492
Los Adaes State Historic Site
Los Adaes, the symbol of New Spain in Louisiana, was once the
capital of Texas and the scene of a unique cooperation among the
French, the Spanish and the indigenous Native Americans. An area
rich in archaeological finds, it thrives today as one of
Louisiana's most intriguing state Historic Sites. This 14-acre
site is the location of a Spanish Fort, garrisoned in the 1700s.
Significant archaeological finds have been a tremendous aid in
interpreting the fort and its occupants. For information call:
(888)677-5378
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