Established in 1787, Destrehan Plantation is the oldest documented plantation in the lower Mississippi River valley. Take a step back in time to a French Creole plantation, and let the historical interpreters captivate you with stories of free and enslaved families who lived there.
You will find yourself immersed in the rich history of Louisiana when French was the language, and the white gold of sugar drove the economy. The plantation served as a 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 Jean Noel 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.
Destrehan Plantation is 25 minutes away from New Orleans and 10 minutes away from the New Orleans International Airport.
Entrance ticket
