Oak Alley's tunnel of trees all the way to the Mississippi River....
A brief history of the infamous Sugar Cane plantationOak Alley was not always a plantataion. It originally was occupied by a man, in the 1700's, that had a small cottage, or home on the property. It was him who planted the "still live today" oak trees. There is a totall of 28 and they stretched from what used to be his house, all the way to the Mississppi River.
Then, what they call, "big house" was built in 1839 by a wealthy
Roman by the name of Jacques Telesphore. Telesphore was an
experied sugar planter. This is the man that had the mansion
built, as a surprise for his new, young wife.
The tour of the "Big House"The Oak Alley tour of the "big house" starts in the front, on the 1st floor, you will enter through the front door, and take right turn into the parlor.
Here they will tell the story of the "house rules." The one that really sticks with you is that the father had a candle, made on a swivel, that he could raise and lower. When a young man would come over to visit the daughter, the father would set the candle in a height that would determine how much he liked the young man. In other words, if the father did like the boy alot then he would set the candle very high, and if he did not like the boy as much, he would set it very low. The candle was to stay in sight of the young man the whole time he was around, and once the candle burned down to the top of the candle holder, the young man knew it was time to leave, no matter how long it had been (10 mins or 5 hrs). It was the rules.
Next, you will go to the kitchen, where you will see how they had their dinner every night. The silverware was extremely large. This was a sign of wealth. The larger the silverware, the wealthier you were considered. Also, you will notice the giant fan above the table. This was connected to a rope that was pulled by a young boy. That was his job. It was a young boy because the adults at dinner did not want them to hear their conversations.
Finally, you will go to the second floor of Oak Alley where you will see the master bedroom. It is very decorated with lots of furniture. This was just a preference of the couple that lived there.
There is also another bedroom that was used as a spare just in case their company wanted to lie down after dinner. This room was also used if anyone in the house was sick, they would go in and stay until they were over their sickness, isolated from the rest of the family.
There is a 3rd level, but they would not allow anyone to go up because there was only one enterance and one exit, and it was unsafe for tourist. They assured that there was nothing to be missed on the third floor.
All around the Plantation
The plantation now consists of many different tourist attraction. These were once different parts of the farm, obviously, but I am going to explain a few to you.
The slave quarters are no longer there but they were, at the time, across from where, now, is the gift shop and cafe.
There are cottages on the property now that are used as part of the Bed and Breakfast service that they offer.
The ticket booth of Oak Alley was, at the time, the place where the boy in the house would move into once he turned 15 years old. This was to teach him responsibility, of being on his own, but yet he was still on the plantation, and close to his family.
Contact the plantation3645 Highway 18 Vacherie, LA 70090*Phone* (225) 265-2151 or (800) 442-5539
*Fax* (225) 265-7035 *Their Website*
Oak Alley Plantation...
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