Laura, A Creole Plantation

Laura, A Creole Plantation, most known for her rich history documented in over 5000 pages of Laura Locoul Gore's own “Memories of The Old Plantation Home.”

Have your passport ready as you enter the fascinating world of Louisiana’s Creoles who, at this historic site, lived apart from the American mainstream for over 200 years.  On our award-winning guided tour, professional interpreters, within 70 minutes, will expose you to compelling, real-life accounts of generations of owners, women, slaves and children who called this typical Creole sugarcane farm their home.  You will learn of their traditions, customs, mores, their folklore, the skilled workmanship of enslaved artisans and the personal relationships they all had with each other. Their stories are rich in documented detail; the examination of their lives is intimate and honest & does not gloss over what is essentially a tale of personal tragedy and the eventual disintegration of Louisiana’s original Creole culture.  Through life-sized figures, portraits, photos, weapons, clothing, heirlooms, furniture, slave and business records, visitors are brought face-to-face with some remarkable Creole personalities.

The guided tour starts with a visit through the Maison Principale, built in 1805, into its raised basement and galleries, and into men's and women's chambers & offices, service rooms and common rooms.  Even though you will see Laura's family heirlooms and their Creole furnishings, this portion of the tour spotlights the charmed but tragic lives of the plantation's inhabitants.  Visitors are introduced to age-old Creole traditions and mores and to the skilled workmanship of enslaved artisans.

After touring the Maison Principale, the visit moves onto the grounds, surrounded by sugarcane fields and 12 buildings on the National Register, winding into the plantation gardens: the formal Jardin Français, the kitchen garden and Laura's new BananaLand.  This part of the tour places visitors at the exact locations where stories recalling the sobering events of human slavery happened.

The tour concludes in one of the 1840s slave cabins where sugarcane workers lived until 1977 and where the ancient west-African folktales of Compair Lapin, better known as the legendary rascal Br'er Rabbit

The plantation gift shop stocks a large selection of literature and items on Louisiana culture, history, music, cuisine, arts and slavery in Louisiana and the United States.

For more information about Laura, A Creole Plantation, please visit them on TourLouisiana.com!