Destrehan Documented Plantation

Experience the Historic Destrehan Plantation

Established in 1787 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Destrehan Plantation remains the oldest documented plantation home in the lower Mississippi Valley. Travel from the French and Spanish Colonial periods, through the antebellum grandeur of the sugar barons, to the ravages of the Civil War and the rebirth of reconstruction.

During this 45-minute walking tour, you find yourself immersed in the rich history of Louisiana during the era when French was the main language and the white gold of sugar drove the economy. Family stories of those free and enslaved set against the fabric of history are sure to intrigue you as you visit the site.

The plantation was home to Marie Celeste Robin de Logny and her husband Jean-Noel Destrehan, the most successful sugar producer in St. Charles Parish and one of the driving forces in Louisiana Statehood. The plantation exhibits an original document signed by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison appointing Destrehan to the Orleans Territorial Council, responsible for creating Louisiana’s civil law of government

Destrehan Plantation was the site where one of the three trials took place following the 1811 Slave Revolt, one of the largest slave revolts in U.S. History, led by Charles Deslondes. During the Civil War, the Union Army seized the plantation and established the Rost Home Colony, where newly freed slaves learned trades enabling them to transition into a life of freedom.