A Southern Plantation

I’m fascinated with plantations. I’m fascinated with the architecture and the historical aspect of it. Well, maybe fascinated is the wrong word, it would be more correct to say that I love the style of these old, southern looking homes. They just don’t build houses like this anymore. And I’ve always loved history, learning from the past.

I’ve always been horrified by slavery. The idea that human beings can own other human beings is too abhorrent for words; doesn’t matter that it happened 200 years ago, it’s just as awful as modern day slavery.

But I digress. I got to visit my first plantation ever, Melrose Plantation (formerly Yukka Plantation) in Louisiana. What makes this plantation unique, is that this plantation was built by and for free blacks, and today it is a peaceful and beautiful place. We arrived after closing time so the house itself was already locked up for the day, but the grounds keeper took mercy on us and allowed us 15 minutes to walk around the grounds and take some pictures. Had I not been from Norway, he would have sent us on our way. Sometimes it pays off being a noisy tourist.

The grounds keeper walked around with us for a few minutes and pointed out what the different buildings were, and told us a little bit of this plantation’s history before he had to go back to closing up the place for the day. A fully guided tour both outdoors and inside the house would have been wonderful; but maybe next time.

Regardless of which side you looked at the house from, it photographed well. It’s truly a gorgeous place. I loved how this massive, old tree framed the house. And I loved the dog that was our guide as we walked around. I took a few frames with the dog in the picture, his being there made the pictures that much better.

All the buildings looked ancient and just about ready to collapse in heavy winds. I have no idea how they have weathered however many storms and hurricanes these past couple centuries. Melrose Plantation is a National Historic Landmark, and part of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.