LIVING HISTORY REALLY LIVES AT OAKLEY PLANTATION NEAR ST. FRANCISVILLE, LA
by Anne Butler

Many restored historic sites glibly promise to make history come alive for visitors, but that feat is easier said than done. One property that does indeed fulfill its promise, with both style and accuracy, is Oakley Plantation in the Audubon State Historic Site just south of St. Francisville, LA. That it can do so, and do it so well, is a testament to the stubborn endurance of the site itself as well as to the present-day stewards’ acute awareness of history.

For one thing, Oakley remained in the multiple generations of the same family for nearly 150 years, its residents wise enough not to embellish its simple elegance with inappropriate modern intrusions, so that this wonderful

Mayhem, mystery, murder---what is it about misfortune we find so intriguing? Whatever it is, Louisiana’s historic plantations, with morning mists swirling through the live oaks and breezes stirring the Spanish moss, provide the perfect setting for such scenarios. Think of River Road’s Ormond Plantation whose 1790s owner was summoned from the dinner table by a caller dressed as a Spanish official, never to be seen again, and whose subsequent owner was hung from an oak on the front lawn.  And among the six historic plantations open for daily tours in St. Francisville, there is The Myrtles, which capitalizes wonderfully on its own woeful past.