Last updated: May 7, 2022
Place
Magnolia Pigeonnier
NPS/Annabel Jones
Quick Facts
Location:
Derry, Louisiana
A Pigeonnier, or pigeon house, was a common sight on a French-Creole plantation. Pigeonniers were status symbols because they served to emphasize the wealth and importance of the plantation owner. Young pigeons, called squab, were used as food. Two popular and delicious meals were pigeon pie and squab on toast. Nothing went to waste on a plantation, not even the pigeon droppings, which were collected and used as fertilizer for the gardens.
Standing near the Pigeonnier, Magnolia Plantation’s Main House is visible on the other side of the fence, behind the trees on PRIVATE PROPERTY. The Main House is not part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park because it is still privately owned by the descendants of the LeComte-Hertzog family. The LeComte family came to the Cane River area in the 1750s, but it wasn’t until 1835 that Ambrose LeComte II and his wife Julia Buard established Magnolia Plantation, which was later managed by Matthew Hertzog, the son-in-law of Ambrose LeComte II. The LeComte family originally grew tobacco and indigo but soon changed the cash crop to cotton. Magnolia Plantation became one of the largest and most successful French Creole cotton plantations with over 6000 acres of land. Because the LeComte-Hertzog family farmed here until the 1960s Magnolia Plantation is recognized as a Bicentennial Farm.
The Main House you see here today was constructed during the 1890s, after retreating US soldiers burned the original house during the Red River Campaign in 1864. During the time it took the LeComte-Hertzog family to rebuild the Main House, they lived in the Slave Hospital/Overseer’s House.
The Cook’s Cabin is located on PRIVATE PROPERTY behind the fence to the right of the Main House. This building served as the Cook’s house and the kitchen for the Main House. The kitchen was always located away from the plantation’s Main House because of the risk of fire from cooking over an open flame.
Standing near the Pigeonnier, Magnolia Plantation’s Main House is visible on the other side of the fence, behind the trees on PRIVATE PROPERTY. The Main House is not part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park because it is still privately owned by the descendants of the LeComte-Hertzog family. The LeComte family came to the Cane River area in the 1750s, but it wasn’t until 1835 that Ambrose LeComte II and his wife Julia Buard established Magnolia Plantation, which was later managed by Matthew Hertzog, the son-in-law of Ambrose LeComte II. The LeComte family originally grew tobacco and indigo but soon changed the cash crop to cotton. Magnolia Plantation became one of the largest and most successful French Creole cotton plantations with over 6000 acres of land. Because the LeComte-Hertzog family farmed here until the 1960s Magnolia Plantation is recognized as a Bicentennial Farm.
The Main House you see here today was constructed during the 1890s, after retreating US soldiers burned the original house during the Red River Campaign in 1864. During the time it took the LeComte-Hertzog family to rebuild the Main House, they lived in the Slave Hospital/Overseer’s House.
The Cook’s Cabin is located on PRIVATE PROPERTY behind the fence to the right of the Main House. This building served as the Cook’s house and the kitchen for the Main House. The kitchen was always located away from the plantation’s Main House because of the risk of fire from cooking over an open flame.