Ducros Plantation

The Ducros Plantation (a.k.a. Old Jackson Plantation or Polmer Plantation) is a Southern plantation located in Schriever, Louisiana.

Ducros Plantation
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The east facade, seen from Old Schriever Hwy
Nearest city	Schriever, Louisiana
Coordinates	29°45′15″N 90°49′5″W
Built	1859-1860[1]
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.	85002759[2]
Added to NRHP	November 7, 1985

Location

The plantation is located in Schriever, Terrebone Parish, Louisiana.[3] It is two miles and a half away from Thibodaux.[4]

History

The land was granted by Spain to Thomas Villanueva Barroso[5] who, 10 years later, sold it to Pierre Denis de La Ronde whose son-in-law, Adolphe Ducros, developed it into the Ducros Plantation.[6][7] In 1845, Ducros sold it to Colonel Van Perkins Winder.[5][8] Winder expanded the acreage by purchasing adjacent land formerly owned by Thomas Butler and smaller farms.[4]

The mansion was built by Winder's widow, Martha Grundy, who was Felix Grundy's daughter, shortly after her husband's death.[1][7] Construction began in 1859 and it was completed in 1860.[4] It was designed in the Greek Revival architectural style.[3] Martha hired a Louisiana architect named Evens and told him to model the mansion on The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's plantation home in Nashville, Tennessee.[4] Indeed, she had grown up in Nashville.[4]

During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the mansion was saved from a fire by Union General Godfrey Weitzel.[4] However, the outbuildings burned down.[4] Meanwhile, the fields were used as a camping ground by the Confederate States Army and the Unionists.[4] The Texas Rangers hoisted Bonnie Blue Flag, a flag of the Confederate States of America, on top of the house.[4]

In 1872, the plantation was purchased by two brothers, R.S. Woods and R.C. Woods, who were married to two sisters, Maggie Pugh and Fannie Pugh.[4] It became known as the Old Jackson Plantation.[9] It is two-story high, with a white facade.[1]

It was purchased by Samuel and Leon Polmer in 1909.[10] It was later inherited by Leon Polmer's sons, Irvin and Marvin.[10] In 1974, it was inherited by J.L. Fischman of New Orleans.[11]

The plantation is now owned by the Bourgeois family.[11] It was featured on If These Walls Could Talk, a television program on HGTV, in 2002.[11] Old wood with inscriptions about the secession of South Carolina and the presidential run of Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 have been found on the property.[11]

Heritage significance

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 7, 1985.[3]

References

1. "Ducros Plantation House" (PDF). www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/hp/nhl/index.asp. Louisiana Office of Cultural Development. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. National Register of Historic Places
4. "The Louisiana Digital Library: Ducros Plantation". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
5. Anne Butler (ed.), The Pelican Guide to Plantation Homes of Louisiana, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 2009, p. 60
6. Byrd, Brandon African American Intellectual History Society: "Finding Toussaint L’Ouverture in Tennessee"; 20 July 2017.
7. Louisiana Writers' Project, Louisiana: A Guide to the State, North American Book Distribution, 1 Jan 1941, p. 580
8. Fred Daspit, Louisiana Architecture, 1840-1860, Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2006, p. 268
9. Old Jackson Plantation home, owned by a sugarcane planter. Schriever, Louisiana, Library of Congress
10. Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Houma, Louisiana, Goldring / Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
11. Thad Angelloz, Local plantation lives on thanks to couple's restoration efforts, The Daily Comet, May 4, 2008