|
 
|
The
mill complex within the Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic District
Courtesy of the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation
Houses
and agricultural structures within the district
Courtesy of the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation |
The Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic
District consists of 46 buildings and two structures, including a sugar
mill and associated support buildings, a "big house" and other management
facilities, including housing for workers and managers. The buildings
date from 1855 to 1947. The original plantation house, constructed in
1855, was known as the Marengo Plantation. In 1874 and 1877 its owners
sold off the land and the plantation itself, and in 1878 an investor from
Ohio, James H. Laws, purchased it. In 1906 the Laws family moved the Greek
Revival plantation house to a spot on Manager's Row and replaced it with
a house reflecting northern architectural tastes. At one time the railway
came up to the sugar processing plant the Laws constructed and improved.
This massive, rambling sugar mill was constructed in two stages. Begun
in 1897 and completed in 1906, the building is constructed of riveted
steel girders and sheathed in corrugated metal. The complex features wood
frame, brick, and metal construction with building heights ranging from
one-story structures to a chimney stack that towers above the mill. Many
of the district's buildings are oriented toward the Mississippi River,
as was the custom when steamboats were the mode of transportation. The
roads in the historic district form a cross pattern, with Terrell Drive
heading from Highway 1 to River Road adjacent the Mississippi, and North
Florence becoming South Florence after crossing Terrell Drive. It is on
North and South Florence where the workers' homes can be found.
The period 1880 to 1920 saw rampant industrial growth in Louisiana,
including large-scale centralized sugar processing. The group of buildings
at Cinclare is significant because it is a rare surviving example of
a South Louisiana sugar complex. Today barely a handful of these complexes
remain to illustrate the important role sugar played in the economy
of the state's southern region. Its sugar mill, despite additions and
modernization, survives to represent a major chapter in sugar production
in Louisiana, which saw the displacement of individual plantation sugar
mills with large central factories. These buildings also stand as a
rare example of a company town from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic District is located on State Hwy.
1 near Brusly, and 3 miles from Interstate 10. The mill and the residences
are private and not open to the public.
|
