Whitney Plantation, Outbuildings, Louisiana Route 18, Wallace, St. John the Baptist Parish, LA

Significance: The land on which Whitney Plantation is situated was originally granted to German settlers brought to Louisiana in 1718 by the Company of the Indies. A Spanish map dated 1803 indicates that the plantation was owned by Jean Jacques Haydel. In 1820 he sold it to his sons, Jean Jacques Jr., and Marcelin. In that year the plantation had 23 arpents of face (4412 eng. feet). Conveyance records indicate that a two-story master's house, a kitchen, various store houses, mills, a steam-powered sugar mill, slave quarters and stables were standing. The oldest surviving structures on the plantation, the Big House and the Old French Barn, probably date from the period 1803-1805. Hand-headed spikes and similar siding suggest that the two structures are contemporary. The Big House was remodeled ca. 1840 and has not been much-changed since. Marcelin's widow retained the plantation until 1867, when it was purchased by the Bradish Johnson Co. Ltd. of New York. The Haydel Plantation was renamed for a relative of Mr. Johnson's. In 1879 fire destroyed the sugar house. In 1880 the plantation passed to Theophile Perret and Peter Edward in St. Martin. In 1946 it was sold to A.M. Barnes of New Orleans. No one has resided in the Big House for many years. The older out-buildings are used for dead storage. The plantation is retained by the Barnes family as of this date.
Survey number: HABS LA-1194-A
Building/structure dates: ca. 1803- ca. 1805 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: ca. 1840 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1879 Subsequent Work