Last updated: July 29, 2022
Place
Oakland Plantation
NPS Photo/Corey Poole
Quick Facts
Location:
Natchez, LA
Amenities
16 listed
Accessible Rooms, Automated External Defibrillator (AED), Baby Changing Station, Benches/Seating, Bicycle - Rack, Captioned Media, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Information - Maps Available, Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Picnic Shelter/Pavilion, Picnic Table, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible, Water - Bottle-Filling Station, Water - Drinking/Potable
Welcome to Oakland Plantation, a part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park. You are about to enter one of the most intact Creole Plantations in existence. Creole can mean different things to different people. Here in the Cane River area, Creoles are descended from Louisiana’s colonial settlers. This can be any combination of colonial French, Spanish, African, or Native American descent. The term Creole can also be used to label the contributions of the Creole Culture, including their language, food, and architecture.
Oakland Plantation was a thriving agricultural community for nearly 200 years. The workforce was originally comprised of enslaved laborers. Following emancipation, sharecroppers and tenant farmers worked the fields. Along with the people who worked the fields, you also had doctors, blacksmiths, carpenters, laundresses, and store clerks. All these people played key roles in ensuring the success of the plantation. Founded by Jean Pierre Emanuel Prud’homme around 1785, Oakland would remain in the family for the next two centuries. During that time span the family would endure the Civil War, outbreaks of the boll weevil, and the great depression.
As you tour the plantation today, you will gain an understanding of life on a cotton plantation and come away with a new appreciation for the contributions of the diverse group of people who lived and worked on this land.
Oakland Plantation was a thriving agricultural community for nearly 200 years. The workforce was originally comprised of enslaved laborers. Following emancipation, sharecroppers and tenant farmers worked the fields. Along with the people who worked the fields, you also had doctors, blacksmiths, carpenters, laundresses, and store clerks. All these people played key roles in ensuring the success of the plantation. Founded by Jean Pierre Emanuel Prud’homme around 1785, Oakland would remain in the family for the next two centuries. During that time span the family would endure the Civil War, outbreaks of the boll weevil, and the great depression.
As you tour the plantation today, you will gain an understanding of life on a cotton plantation and come away with a new appreciation for the contributions of the diverse group of people who lived and worked on this land.