Cane River Creole National Historical Park

I arrived at Cane River Creole National Historical Park shortly after it opened on a windy, overcast, and chilly morning. I was the only person there apart from staff. The park consists of two former plantations, Oakland and Magnolia, located about six miles apart. I stopped at Oakland.

Next to the parking lot is an open shelter (not unlike a picnic shelter) with restrooms attached. Pamphlets about the park are available here, though not a passport stamping station. As I arrived, a park ranger was just leaving the shelter and gave me a quick rundown on the site.

I decided to head to the general store as a first stop, as it doubled as a mini-Visitor’s Center. I had noticed the general store from the drive into the park, along with its old-style gasoline pumps in front.

On arriving at the store (and getting my passport stamped here), I spoke with the ranger a bit more. I was confused about a “general store” on the grounds of a plantation, but she told me that indeed the store was open as a service to the surrounding area well back into the 19th century. It remained open, at least as a gas station until around 1980! And that is what sets these two plantations apart from some of the others that I have visited. The families continued living here long after the Civil War destroyed the old plantation system of the south. Oakland plantation was sold to the park service in the early 1990s, while the main house at Magnolia is still privately owned and closed to visitors, though the lands and outbuildings are open.

That more recent ownership is visible when touring the main house. Areas like the kitchen look like a typical 1960s-1970s style whereas other plantations had a separate kitchen that was clearly from the 1800s, intending to show antebellum life as it was. No microwaves even!!

Access to the main house was only on Saturdays and Sundays when I visited, so I had planned my overall schedule to ensure I was there on a weekend. The house itself was not the huge, brick and columned “Tara”-like houses one sees in the movies. It was moderate size, all wooden, and not really standing up to father time. The original house had been expanded over the years (the original having one of those separate kitchens until an eat-in one was added on.

I took the self-guided tour of the main house, then looked in a few of the other buildings as I made my way back to the parking lot. There were several other buildings further away, including the slave quarters. I was already hurting from the little walking that I did and had seen enough slave “quarters” that I felt no need to look at these. As far as I’m concerned, the landowners were disgusting examples of human refuge who should have been stripped of all land following the Civil War.

I had intended to drive down to the other plantation at Magnolia, but I really didn’t expect I would see anything “new” here. I had a rather long drive ahead of me over toward Waco, Texas, so after driving along the Cain River for a few miles, I turned off and headed west.

Steve