Natchez, MS to Convent, LA (Hwy 61 to Baton Rouge, I-10 to Sorrento, Hwy 70 to Donaldsonville, backtrack to cross to the east side of the river, south on Hwy 44 to Convent, LA)
St Francisville, LA
About an hour south of Natchez Hwy 61 crosses into Louisiana and approaches the town of St. Francisville. The Mississippi meanders off to the west and the land is laced with sluggish bayous and small swamps. The highway bypasses the old town so a brief detour takes me into the heart of old St. Francisville. The town was established on a low bluff above the river in 1809 but an earlier settlement called Bayou Sara was settled in early 1790’s along the river below the bluff. Bayou Sara was at one time the largest river port between New Orleans and Memphis, the town was repeated ravished by floods and fire until it was relocated up the bluff (some of the remaining buildings were actually moved up to the bluff and still exist). In its early years St. Francisville was in the middle of a controversy between Spain and the United States as to the actual boundary between the Louisiana Purchase and land still claimed by Spain as an extension of its Florida territories. This situation persisted until 1810 when the land on the east side of the Mississippi declared itself independent of Spain and St. Francisville became the capital of the Republic of West Florida. This situation only lasted 74 days until the land was annexed to the Territory of Orleans and became part of the United States. That pretty much was the end of importance for St. Francisville, though it became the parish seat (part of the French legacy of Louisiana is that counties are called parishes) and the parish administrative center seems to be the only employment opportunity in town as the small commercial strip is along Hwy 61 about a mile away. Today about 1,700 people call St. Francis home and I suspect a number of them commute south to Baton Rouge, 35 miles away, for jobs. Let’s wander in old St Francis. The main street dead-ends in a swamp down by the river (turning around the Lunch Box was a bit of a challenge but we managed it without falling into the water!) The small center of town centers on the parish courthouse, fronted by the now familiar tribute to the town’s confederate soldiers…
Across from the parish courthouse is a small row of buildings. The middle building was constructed in 1842 as a law office and has been in continuous use as a law office since then.
The turn of the 20th century saw a peak in the development of St. Francisville and a cluster of significant buildings surround the parish courthouse. The Grace Episcopal Church, founded in 1826 and the current church built in 1880, the Band of Commerce and Trust Company building (1909) and the West Feliciana Parish School (1907) all border the courthouse block.
A bit farther east are White’s Cottage (from the late 1890’s) and Market Hall (1819) as well as the Cabildo (1809), which served as the center of government during the Spanish era.
Royal Street runs along the southwest side of the courthouse block and is lined with historic homes.
Hillcroft (1905), Prospect House (1809), Sainte Reine (1894)
The Printer’s Cottage (1798), Propinquity (1809), Serendipity (1895)
Camilla Leake Barrow House (left part-1809, right side 1859) and Robb House (1895).
Interesting, once again I find an unexpected indication of the strength of the Jewish population in the post-Civil War Mississippi Valley. The Temple Sinai was built in 1901 and still has the original stained glass.
Back on Hwy 61 I pass through the current state capital, Baton Rouge, and after a short jaunt down I-10 again take to the side roads to cross over the Mississippi River on the Sunshine Bridge to visit another past capital city, Donaldsonville.
Donaldsonville, LA
While the historic River Road which follows both sides of the Mississippi between Baton Rouge and New Orleans was the center of the sugar cane economy 200 years ago, today the same stretch of land is the center of a massive petro-chemical complex. More on the east side of the river than the west (though around Donaldsonville are huge refineries), this land of sugar cane is punctuated by the sights and smell of industry.
Donaldsonville was settled by Acadians, a French-Canadian people who were expelled by the British from Acadia in eastern Canada in 1755 and who began to settle in the area from 1756 to 1785. While under Spanish control Spanish immigrants arrived and remained when the area returned to French control prior to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In 1806 local land baron William Donaldson founded the town of Donaldson on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The multicultural mix of people in Louisiana gradually became dominated by an increasing number of Anglo-Americans around Baton Rouge and further north, and a conflict ensued between the Anglos (who favored a capital farther north) and the French Creoles, who wanted to keep the capital in a historically-French area. In 1829 Donaldsonville was selected as the compromise choice for state capital, but the role only lasted two years. Several battles were fought over Donaldsonville during the Civil War until the Union prevailed with the assistance of some of the first black troops made up of free blacks and fugitive slaves. During the post war years Donaldsonville became the third largest black community in the state and in 1868 Donaldsonville elected the first black mayor in the United States. As with other agricultural towns, Donaldsonville suffered with the mechanization of agriculture and resulting loss of jobs and it entered a period of general decline in the first part of the 20th century. The old town area today is in a genteel state of decay, surrounded on the west by neighborhoods that are a mix of classic “shot-gun” houses (so named because you could stand in the front door and shoot a shot-gun all the way through the house and out the back). I didn’t loiter long in Donaldsonville because we were under a tornado watch, but was there long enough to get a feel for the town.
Mechanization of agriculture and other changes resulted in a major loss of population in Ascension Parish from 1900 to 1930, particularly from 1920-1930. This was the period of the Great Migration, when tens of thousands of African Americans left the rural South to go for opportunities in northern and midwestern cities. Such changes also drew off business from the parish seat. Ascension Parish lost more than 16% of its population in that decade. In the Great Depression, the area struggled economically. Grand mansions were not what caught my eye in Donaldsonville but rather the smaller houses, some in a good state of repair and some not.
This is a difficult climate and the vegetation quickly reclaims an abandoned house.
I turn a corner and see block after block of shot-gun houses. These are not abandoned but are currently being lived in.
If you look closely at the foundations you’ll notice that the houses do not sit on the ground but rather on cement blocks about a foot or so off the ground. This is such wet country that the houses are raised to deter damp rot and let the air circulate under the house. The tornado watch has me a bit concerned so I leave Donaldsonville, head back across the Sunshine Bridge to the east side of the river, and turn south down Hwy 44 to my destination, Convent.
Convent, LA
My home base for the exploration of the river road area is Poche RV Park, located at the edge of the little town of Convent on the grounds of the Poche Plantation. One of the few plantation houses built after the Civil War, the Poche Plantation House was built by Judge Felix Pierre Poche (one of the founders of the American Bar Association) in 1870 a rather unique style.
The RV Park wraps around the main house and in back the only reminder of the once grand gardens is a pond, a couple of statues, and a “Beware of Alligators” sign…
Convent was founded as a town called Baron when first settled in 1722. A bustling little town, it became home to St. Michaels Church and Convent (which gave the town its new name in 1825). The convent was active between 1825-1932. The church and convent building are right next to the Poche Plantation House along Hwy 44. In the back is a classic Louisiana cemetery. The graves are in crypts above the ground to protect coffins from the damp.
Anchoring the south end of the little town is Manresa, a Catholic retreat center, housed in the campus of a succession of colleges: Jefferson College (1831-1848), Louisiana College (1848-1856), and St. Mary’s Jefferson College (1864-1927). In 1931 the Jesuits purchased the property and have utilized it as a spiritual retreat ever since. Today over 5,000 people per year seek comfort and reflection in this quiet setting on the banks of the Mississippi. The main building was constructed in 1842, the President’s House in 1836. Highway 44 bisects the property. On the west side of the highway is the original 1836 gate and the alley of oaks that were planted in the mid-1800’s leading from the river (now hidden behind the levee in the distance) to the college.
Standing in the same spot, I turn away from the river and look towards the 1842 main building.
To the left of the main gate is the 1836 President’s House.
Even the smallest little town seems to have left big footsteps on the road of history…
Next up: The Palaces of River Road
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