Saturday, April 11, 2009

Oak Alley Plantation Cemetery, Vacherie, St James Parish, LA


Location: West of Vacherie, south of the Mississippi River, along the River Road, about 55 miles from downtown New Orleans. Admission is most likely required to view the grounds.

Oak Alley was originally built with slave labor from 1837 to 1839 by J.T. Roman. He was the brother of André Roman, the second Governor of Louisiana. The home is mostly known for it's avenue of tremendous Live Oak trees that lead from the front porch of the home to the Mississippi River. The trees were supposedly flourishing for some years before the house was built.

After several successful and non-successful owners, the plantation was bought and refurbished by the Stewarts in the 1920's. Andrew and Josephine Stewart are buried in the small graveyard on the west side of the home. Her nephew, Zeb Mayhew Jr, took over care of the plantation after her death in 1972. He passed away in 1994 and is also buried there. It is unclear(to me at least) where previous owners may be buried.

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