Magnolia Plantation — Cane River Creole NHP

The eight brick cabins at Magnolia Plantation are among the best-preserved enslaved quarters in the United States. They are remnants of 70 cabins that once housed 275 enslaved persons who worked over 6,000 acres of cotton land owned by Ambrose LeComte II in 1860. After the Civil War, freedmen and their families lived in these cabins as sharecroppers for another century. The Hertzogs rebuilt the plantation house and other structures damaged during the war, and the place became the center of a larger community — Black Protestants and Catholic Creoles of color who leased land as tenant farmers. They all felt they had a stake, along with the Hertzogs, in maintaining the productivity of the land. By the mid-20th century, mechanization reduced the need for workers and many left for urban jobs. This plantation traces to Jean Baptiste LeComte II, who received French and Spanish land grants in the mid-18th century. But the first structures were not built until the 19th century, and the plantation was not operating until 1830. Atala LeComte and Matthew Hertzog took over shortly after their marriage in 1852, linking the Hertzog name to Magnolia. Hertzog descendants owned and lived in the main house until 2000; the last was Betty Hertzog, who lived most of her life there. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001 as one of the most intact 19th-century plantation complexes in the nation. It has 21 contributing buildings — an unusually high number for surviving plantations. The National Park Service has acquired 16, including the plantation store, blacksmith shop, slave hospital, cotton gin, and the eight brick quarters. Steam- and animal-powered cotton gins and cotton picker tractors survive as exceptional examples of period farming technology. The main house and farming acreage remain with descendants of Ambrose John Hertzog and Sarah Jane Hunter Hertzog. On December 29, 2022, the main house and surrounding grounds were added to the national historical park's authorized boundary. Grounds are open daily 9am–3:30pm. Ranger-led tours run Wednesday through Sunday. Free.