Festivals St. Francisville Louisiana

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Saving History, One Frame

Saving St. Francisville History, One Frame At A Time By Anne Butler “If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday,” said Nobel...
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Unique Culinary History

St. Francisville Noted For Its Unique Culinary History by Anne Butler ...
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P.T. Barnum's Visit

Barnum’s traveling company performed from Nashville where they visited General Andrew Jackson at the Hermitage, on down through Vicksburg where ...
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The True Democrat

More than a century covering the news in a historic little Louisiana river town ...
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History Comes Alive

Slip back into the 19th century as one of a growing number of re-enactors dedicated to preserving the past and making it come alive for today’s obser...
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Come Join the Fun! Book your reservations in advance to ensure you choice of lodging. Visit the West Feliciana Parish Tourist Website for information.

St. Francisville, LA: Tilling The Soil Through Time
By Anne Butler

In 1831 the Encyclopaedia Americana called the District of Nueva Feliciana the garden of Louisiana, its rich well-watered soils and happy climate perfect for the cultivation of gardens both pragmatic and merely pleasing to the senses.
The first cash crops, indigo and cotton, corn and sugarcane, were planted as soon as the fields were laboriously cleared. Each early dwelling had its kitchen garden and truck patch for growing foodstuffs for family and farm animals, plus herbs for cooking as well as medicinal purposes. And once those plantings had been established and the pioneering families prospered, attention turned to ornamental gardens, formal parterres and orderly bordered beds of flowering shrubs—azaleas, camellias, sweet olive and hip gardenia, climbing roses and other heritage plants. Some of these 19th-century gardens still exist, most notably Rosedown and Afton Villa, and these historic plantings have been joined by equally impressive contemporary landscaping like Imahara’s Botanical.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 April 2014 )

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Flags Over St. Francisville
By Anne Butler
The St. Francisville area is so incredibly scenic that since the days of Audubon it has inspired artists and writers, photographers and painters. It still does. Several local artists have galleries in the historic district downtown, and the West Feliciana Historical Society’s museum-headquarters on Ferdinand Street displays a nice selection of coffee table photography books with glorious images of the area’s landscapes and architecture.
Being released this month is yet another, Flags Along the Way: A Pictorial Journey Through the History of West Feliciana, which promises to supplement the current crop of

Last Updated ( Friday, 14 March 2014 )

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AUDUBON PILGRIMAGE SURE SIGN OF SPRING IN ST. FRANCISVILLE
By Anne Butler
The forty-third annual Audubon Pilgrimage March 21, 22 and 23, 2014, celebrates a southern spring in St. Francisville, the glorious garden spot of Louisiana’s English Plantation Country. The ice storms of winter may have confused the plants, but savvy pilgrims know it’s spring when the West Feliciana Historical Society throws open the doors of significant historic structures to commemorate artist-naturalist John James Audubon’s stay as he painted a number of his famous bird studies and tutored the daughter of Oakley Plantation’s Pirrie family, beautiful young Eliza. And regardless of the winter weather, the azaleas always come through with spectacular bloom just in time for the pilgrimage.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 February 2014 )

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Upcoming Events

Featured Articles

Saving History, One Frame

Unique Culinary History

P.T. Barnum's Visit

The True Democrat

History Comes Alive

Photographers' Paradise

Picnicing in the Parks