Submitted by FHMaster on Sat, 12/17/2016 - 16:11

The Houmas, also known as Burnside Plantation and currently known as Houmas House Plantation and Gardens, is a historic plantation complex and house museum in Burnside, Louisiana. The plantation was established in the late 1700s, with the current main house completed in 1840. It was named after the native Houma people, who originally occupied this area of Louisiana.[2] The complex, containing eight buildings and one structure, and the 10 acres (4.0 ha) they rest upon, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 27, 1980.[1][2]

The Houmas plantation had its beginnings when Alexander Latil and Maurice Conway obtained all of the Houma tribe's land on the east side of the Mississippi River in 1774. Alexander Latil built a French Colonial style plantation house at the site around 1775.

It was a working sugarcane plantation by 1803, when the United States obtained the area through the Louisiana Purchase. Shortly afterwards The Houmas was purchased by Daniel Clark, who began to develop the property and built one of the first sugar mills along this stretch of the river. In June 1807, Clark and territorial Governor William C. C. Claiborne fought a duel on the property, in which Claiborne sustained a gunshot wound to his leg.

In 1811, former American Revolutionary War general Wade Hampton purchased Daniel Clark's land holdings and slaves. Hampton was one of the wealthiest landowners and largest slaveholders in the antebellum eraSouth.[2][3][4]

The Houmas 01.jpg

Houmas House Plantation along the Mississippi River in Louisiana

 

Location
Burnside
State
Status
Active
Address
40136 Hwy. 942, Darrow, Louisiana
NRHP Ref Number
80001694