Double Plantation Tour • Oak Alley & Whitney Guided Tour.

The Whitney Plantation Historic District stands as a powerful and unique museum devoted to preserving the history of slavery in the southern United States. Located near Wallace in Saint John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, along the Mississippi River, the plantation includes the main house and numerous outbuildings that have been carefully preserved. Established in the mid-eighteenth century, the plantation remained in the hands of the founding family for generations until the mid-nineteenth century. Opened to the public in the early twenty-first century, the museum was founded by a New Orleans attorney who dedicated significant personal resources and over a decade of work to bring this vision to life. The grounds feature imaginative exhibits and original commissioned art, including life-size sculptures of children representing former slaves whose stories were recorded in federal oral history projects, ensuring their experiences are remembered. The French Creole style main house, constructed in the early nineteenth century, is an outstanding example of architectural heritage in the state, complemented by extant outbuildings, a plantation store, the only surviving French Creole barn in Louisiana, and slave quarters. The plantation also encompasses archaeological sites that continue to reveal the depth of its history, and it has been recognized on the national registry of historic places while forming part of the Louisiana African-American Heritage Trail.

Oak Alley Plantation, located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Vacherie, St. James Parish, Louisiana, is renowned for its stunning landscape and architectural beauty. Its name derives from a spectacular alley created by a double row of southern live oak trees stretching from the home to the river, a living canopy planted long before the current house was built. The plantation is celebrated not only for its architectural design but also for its innovative agricultural practices, including the pioneering grafting of pecan trees by an enslaved gardener in the mid-nineteenth century. Visitors are drawn to the remarkable combination of history, artistry, and natural beauty, as the avenue of oaks leads the eye toward the stately French Creole mansion, while the surrounding grounds reflect both the labor and lives of those who lived and worked on the plantation. Together, Whitney and Oak Alley Plantations offer a compelling insight into Louisiana’s complex history, blending education, reflection, and the beauty of the Mississippi River landscape.