Magnolia Mound Plantation

I found myself experiencing creole culture at Magnolia mound plantation here in the heart of Baton Rouge. I actually found this place just after visiting the original USS Kidd veteran’s memorial and wound up on tripadvisor.
The magnolia mound plantation is actually a private residence here in present day Baton Rouge, which belonged to a few prominent and wealthy individuals from the time it was built in 1791 till post Civil War area of 1865. When the house was being built, Baton Rouge was part of Spain at the time and were governed by the rules of the Spanish since 1763. Once Spain lost, the Louisiana purchase of 1803 was sold to the young United States of America to grow and expand. The home that sits on the plantation changed hands several times during its lifetime in the 1800’s, but it made its way to being a museum in the 1960’s and it’s been like that ever since. The main house I’ve been told is due to the influence of the French, as there is no main door, but several doorways leading into the home, one for the women and one for the men, etc. Slavery in the south was big in the 1800’s and they had a separate building to house them all. It was very very basic living for them. The overall experience here at the Magnolia Mound was as interesting as it can get. Actually seeing how people lived back then versus reading a book draws me back to a time where there is no television nor Internet. It makes me relive the horrors that the slaves went through on a daily basis, when in contrast, the owners lived in mild luxury at the time.
The Magnolia mound plantation is located at 2161 Nicholson Drive here in Baton Rouge. It was a nice casual Thursday when I rolled up in here. There’s actually 2 distinct parking lots and I happened to park in the first one of the main building you see along Hwy 30. That main building wasn’t the admissions office to Magnolia Mound, but it was something else. You’d have to go to the other parking lot, which has the very beautiful glass structure. That’s the main office where you check in, pay for the guided tour, and there’s a small gift shop to browse if you want to shop. It’s cool that they do educational programs for the kids and also do event rentals, where they rent the space among Magnolia Mound to coordinate a wedding or a special event — for various pricing increments. They accept credit cards, which is always a plus. I think they do visa only, but I’m not sure on that. As mentioned before, parking isn’t an issue, because there’s plenty of parking and usually hardly anyone goes during the work day, unless you were a tourist, like me. Admission price here for the guided tour was $ 10, which is nice. Not too pricey, which is a good thing either. My tour guide was a volunteer, who I remember her name as Diane, I believe. She was very knowledgable and I definitely had a nice time learning the backstory and history of Baton Rouge and that of Louisiana too. It was a nice day for it too, although it rained an hour earlier, so the grounds were slightly wet, but that was alright.
For my guided tour, I basically got to tour the main house, which was the home for several individuals and their families. They lived richly and definitely in luxury, as the sign of the times dictates back then — especially when they own the plantation and could do whatever they wanted — as most rich folks do these days and back then too. I was instructed no photography in the main house, but elsewhere along the property, I can. The main home seemed very comfortable with dining areas that could host many wealthy people and important politicians for a social gathering or two. A few paintings /​photographs of the owners on the walls, of course. After the tour of the main house, my tour guide left me to roam the grounds. The guided tour took about 90 minutes, which was a little more than I thought. I found the slave quarters and also the overseer’s home. The overseer is basically someone who looks after the plantation’s operations. Money was gold back in the day, as it’s still keen today. The slave quarters looked very minimal and you could bet that they can cram a lot of bodies in there and think nothing of it. There is a small garden and there’s even an outdoor smoke house, which I was told that the cook (also a slave) would do their cooking for the masters there. There was even pickled stuff in jars on the shelf. Not sure if that’s from the 1800’s or from the educational programs the kids made recently.
For what it’s worth, I think that the Magnolia Mound plantation is a fine representation of French influenced architecture in the late 1700’s here in Baton Rouge, when many political influences were abound and the United States was starting to expand westward beyond the Mississippi. It keeps you humbled here to how the slaves tried to make a living here, if you can call it a living. 5 stars.
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It was the middle of the week and summer break was over for most, but not me. I arrived to this historical site. I entered the welcome center alone. The nice woman at the counter that I bought my ticket from was also my tour guide. Although I party of one she still continue to give me in-​depth detail about the whole plantation for a full 50 minutes. She was very informative, very nice, and I enjoyed my solo tour. She even went so far as to give me great recommendations on other sites to see around Baton Rouge and gave me five free postcards

«Historic, picturesque and gorgeous plantation». I have visited this plantation on numerous occasions. It is easily accessible, given that it is close to downtown Baton Rouge, on Nicholson close to interstate and the LSU campus. If you get a chance, come visit the Magnolia Mound Plantation and connect with history. I have taken a tour of the house and it is small, quaint and extremely well-​preserved. The grounds are maintained well and it is perfect for private events. Recently, I attended a private event here under their covered event space, which can hold a fairly large amount of attendees. The facility was clean, ample parking across the street and feels private enough where you cannot disturb the peace in the neighborhood. So, make time to visit the Magnolia Mound Plantation because it is a huge piece of not only Baton Rouge history, but of Louisiana’s. Enjoy!

I had a lovely day at MM Plantation thanks to my wonderful tour guide, Rosalind. She was so well informed about the history of the area, the home and the family who lived in it. She is also bilingual so if you speak French, she would make your tour special.
The furnishings in the home were of the appropriate period and style. I learned so much and highly recommend this tour to locals and tourists alike.
They only ask for a $ 10 donation which is a great value for helping to preserve such a beautiful historic landmark.

Great place to stop as a tourist, especially on Thursdays I am told, since volunteers make goodies in the planation kitchen. The house is furnished with period pieces, the staff are super knowledgeable and friendly.

I went to a wedding reception at Magnolia Mound, and it was a wonderful venue. I suppose it would be problematic with rain, but this was a sunny day, and we were able to take advantage of the beautiful grounds.
The architecture was straight out of an old southern novel — the Magnolia Mound Plantation House Wikipedia page pinpoints the various structures as «examples of the vernacular architectural influences of early settlers from France and the West Indies.» The place was indeed a plantation back in the day, with all the bad history that entails. A few of us — a Korean-​American, a Nigerian-​American, a Puerto-​Rican-​American, and a half-​Italian-​half-​WASP-​American — walked around and looked at the slave quarters and overseer’s house. They weren’t open for entry, but we were able to walk up to the porches and look in the windows. The houses were interesting, and a joke or two were made at our half-​WASP friend’s expense.
The reception was held in and around a wide wooden gazebo, with tables and benches set up under it as well as outside on the grass. Dinner was served buffet style, then the floor was cleared for dancing, with a live creole band playing at the back. The venue was versatile and enjoyable, and the set-​up was well-​suited to an outdoor southern wedding reception. The gazebo was hung with lots of little lights, and when it got dark, they were turned on to lovely effect.
I was one of two Asians at the reception, the other being the flower girl, the adopted daughter of one of the bride’s friends. At one point in the evening, another guest approached me and asked, «Is she yours?» I suppose twenty-​four isn’t egregiously old to have a walking daughter in the south. Ah, the generalizations. At least we’ve made some progress since the slavery days.