Today the Great River Road is almost a misnomer: it is not a continuous
ribbon beside the river on both banks but rather a series of truncated country
roads interrupted by long stretches of private or industrial developments
closed to the public. The river itself is rarely visible from behind tall berms
that form the levee system. One sees only the tops of trees that grow along the
batture -- the strip of swampy land between the levee and the river -- and the
top of a ship’s mast or an occasional loading crane. The Mississippi is
dominated now by massive ocean-going vessels and thousands of barges, with
grain and oil their primary cargo. Ferries that brought people together from
opposite banks have mostly been replaced by tall bridges with massive
cloverleaf on and off ramps.
Of the hundreds of plantations that lined the river at the turn of the 20th
century there are only a handful left, reduced now to a house and gardens, like
a teaser of what once was. Much of the land is occupied by oil refineries and
industrial plants. And because the modern levee system in some cases claimed
acres of what had been tillable soil, front yards, and habitable buildings,
what one sees today is usually not at all what was originally set along the
River Road. Of the original buildings that have survived, most were moved back
to make way for the new levee and many have been renovated and given
additions.
The planter lifestyle pretty much disappeared after the Civil War (1863-65)
and twelve years of federal occupation during Reconstruction (1865-77).
Plantations suffered damage during the war, and emancipation of slaves took
away the cheap work force, though share cropping kept many freed slaves in the
area. Those planters who hung on to land and houses were barely able to eke out
a living, let alone maintain expensive houses. Fluctuations in crop prices and
uncooperative weather wiped out others. The famous flood of 1927 took much of
what was left. Families had grown to several generations, making it impossible
to divide the land equally among 20 or 30 people.
When in the mid-20th century industrial corporations needed access to the
river to run their processing plants and ship their goods and made reasonable
offers to buy up whole plantations of hundreds, sometimes thousands of acres,
landholders accepted and moved away. New corporate owners had no use for extant
plantation buildings and gardens, which with a handful of exceptions they
either tore down or left to deteriorate into oblivion. Today most of the
buildings on either side of industrial plants are leased by their owners from
the plant.
An interesting sociological switch took place along the river in the first
half of the 20th century, especially from Baton Rouge to somewhat below New
Orleans. A new and higher levee replaced the small docks and gathering spots of
old along the river bank. What had been front of town, i.e. the main houses of
the plantations and their deep set, oak lined lawns facing the river, was for
the most part abandoned by former inhabitants who built new homes far back from
the water and away from industrial plants, or they moved away, or died out.
This left an opportunity for back of town to move up to the river front,
leaving behind the old slave quarters and related work buildings. Here they
could establish “ free towns”, their own communities, usually named for the
former plantation on that site, with Baptist churches and social aid clubs.
Buying plots of land or leasing them from nearby industrial companies, they
occupied some of the old buildings and often built modest new houses or moved a
mobile trailer on to the land. Large historic Catholic churches stayed in place
facing the river, as did some government buildings and many of the grocery and
dry goods stores from before. Groups of foreign seamen from international ships
docking along the river began to appear.
Front of town became the main streets along or near the new highways a fair
distance back from the river: LA 61 and I-10 on the east bank and LA 1 on the
west bank. Shopping malls, legal and medical services, motels. fast food
outlets and new subdivisions developed there.
Having a U.S. post office defines the survival of a community’s name.
Those facing the river that no longer have mailing addresses from the original
town, like Romeville, Free Town, Hillaryville or Mt. Airy are forgotten by all
but local people who still refer to those names. Most smaller and less
influential areas have been incorporated into the area that still has a post
office; for example Convent, which was originally quite small today stretches
(at least in mailing address) 10 or 12 miles along the river. To further
complicate things, the same name applied to several plantations, such as
Evergreen and Oak Grove, so that today one has to make sure which Evergreen or
Oak Grove is being referred to.
This is why the River Road is now a lesser traveled country road, with some
areas where back of town and front of town blur and successful descendants of
planters and slaves both occupy affluent homes and subdivisions that boast
river front views. One plantation home, Emilie near Reserve, is owned by an
African-American businessman who with generations of his family had worked for
the owners of Emilie and nearby San Francisco plantations. Much of the River
Road route is still very rural, complex social relations are observed between
blacks and whites, and some places the old River French, as the local French
dialect is called, can still be heard.
Traveling Louisiana’s River Road today gives us the larger picture: it
helps us understand the magnitude of the Mississippi River and how it still
dominates and controls life along its banks, how the great Mississippi Delta
cleanses and renews itself as it reaches out into the Gulf of Mexico. We can
see how land use changes, heavy industry replacing agriculture, swampy wetlands
and oil wells replacing cypress and oak forests, and how the communities that
have been there over two centuries adapt to these changes. We experience the
challenges of preserving the romantic past while accommodating a much starker
present, dealing with environmental issues, a multi-ethnic heritage, an
endangered reputation as a haven for hunters and fishers, and a growing tourist
trade.
In this guide book we attempt to make the River Road more accessible by
pointing out its historical sights, places to eat, places to stay overnight,
and social venues where the locals go. Mileage and time estimates are offered
to help you decide which parts of the road you want to see and how long you’ll
need to spend. The River Road is much more than plantation house tours and
swamp tours -- it is also and foremost people: so, if you catch Ms. Rita with
her basket of fresh homemade pies and praline candies sitting on the porch of a
country store, feel the breeze off the river as you chat with her while washing
one of her delicacies down with a cold drink or cup of hot chicory coffee from
inside, then you’ll know why you came to this point along the mighty
Mississippi.
We welcome you to join us in exploring every aspect of this fascinating part
of the country.
Donaldsonville, LA 70346 