Last updated: May 4, 2022
Place
Magnolia Plantation Store
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
Derry, Louisiana
Amenities
7 listed
Baby Changing Station, Information - Maps Available, Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible, Water - Bottle-Filling Station, Water - Drinking/Potable
Constructed in 1873, Magnolia’s Plantation Store was in operation for a century. This store served the plantation community, neighbors, and visitors of all ethnicities.The Plantation Store was a gathering place where friends and neighbors exchanged news and gossip. It was also an entertainment center. Local musicians would play music while men, women, and children danced and played dominos or shot craps on the porch and in the yard.
Mostly empty now, this store was once stocked from floor to ceiling with merchandise. Items for sale included the some of the same things we use today, such as candles, kerosene, and small tools. Some foodstuffs for sale included wheat flower, condiments, such as sugar and salt, and canned goods. Agricultural items included seed, fertilizer, and insecticide.
Prior to the 1930s, sharecroppers and tenant farmers were paid in plantation-specific paper scrip or brass tokens which could be redeemed only at that plantation store. Sharecroppers were dependent upon a good harvest to settle credit debt. If the harvest was poor, it was very easy to become buried under a mountain of debt. As the number of sharecroppers dwindled, so did the importance of the plantation stores. Magnolia’s Plantation Store closed in 1973.
Mostly empty now, this store was once stocked from floor to ceiling with merchandise. Items for sale included the some of the same things we use today, such as candles, kerosene, and small tools. Some foodstuffs for sale included wheat flower, condiments, such as sugar and salt, and canned goods. Agricultural items included seed, fertilizer, and insecticide.
Prior to the 1930s, sharecroppers and tenant farmers were paid in plantation-specific paper scrip or brass tokens which could be redeemed only at that plantation store. Sharecroppers were dependent upon a good harvest to settle credit debt. If the harvest was poor, it was very easy to become buried under a mountain of debt. As the number of sharecroppers dwindled, so did the importance of the plantation stores. Magnolia’s Plantation Store closed in 1973.