Old Hickory - LaCour, LA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Home is literally at the end of the road. About 1000 feet south is the levee for the Morganza Flood Control spillway. The Home appeared to be in fine restored condition. The grounds were also in well kept condition. Really nice gem, located in a VERY rural area.
The State Historical Marker states
"Built circa 1820 by Zenon Ledoux family. Excellent example of a Creole raised plantation house. Ovide LaCour owned this house and the nearby LaCour Store. Entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1979."

There was not much history I found, so here is a brief history from the Register application, I located here.

Old Hickory is a good representative example of a Creole raised plantation house. This can be seen in its pitch roof which incorporates the front gallery, its plan, its chairrail inside and out, its handsome doorways, and its exposed and beaded beams. Although it is only of moderate size, the house is unusually well proportioned with three dormers in the attic, which gives a much more graceful line than the usual two dormers. The house which came to be known as "Old Hickory" was built by the Ledoux family. In 1793 Zenon Ledoux owned the land on which the house was ultimately built. After the New Orleans Territory Militia was organized, Ledoux was appoint a Second Lieutenant in 1806 under Captain Benjamin Poydras. During the War of 1812, the only military unit called into service from Pointe Coupee Parish was the volunteer cavalry unit under then Captain Zenon Ledoux. His unit participated in the defense of New Orleans in 1814-1815. Ledoux's 523.12 acres in Pointe Coupee Parish established him as a relatively small planter in the area. Records indicate that he grew cotton on his land in the early nineteenth century and was the owner of 14 slaves. Ledoux died in 1817 leaving the management of the plantation to his son, who was also named Zenon. Like his father, the younger Zenon Ledoux raised cotton. He held the plantation until 1850 by which time the total number of slaves had risen to 24. But during this period, Ledoux was beset with badly fluctuating cotton prices and ruinous floods. In 1850 he sold the plantation, a decision which may have been brought on not only by financial difficulties, but also by advancing old age. It is probable that the younger Ledoux built the present plantation house, but it is not known when. Architectural evidence suggests the 1830's or 1840's. Ledoux's sale of the plantation on December 23, 1850 initiated a period of about a generation in which the property changed hands six times. The shortest period of ownership was only three weeks. One of the owners, Robert McRae, is credited with naming the house "Old Hickory" sometime prior to 1852. By 1860, sugar was the major cash crop. That year, the plantation produced 1000 hogsheads of sugar and 28,000 gallons of molasses. At that time the plantation was owned by Ovide Lejeune, who had increased the number of slaves to 77, placing Old Hickory among the larger slaveholding plantations in the state. But after the war the plantation did not prosper, and in 1879 Lejeune lost the plantation because he was sued for an old debt which had been held against the property sine 1850. It took nearly ten years to settle the suit. The major portion of Old Hickory, that part on which the house stood, was sold at public auction in the summer of 1888. The new owner was Leon O. Lacour, who immediately sold the plantation to Nathaniel P. Phillips. Less than six months later, Phillips sold Old Hickory back to Leon O. Lacour. Six years later, in 1895, Leon O. Lacour sold the plantation to his older brother Ovide Lacour. The departure of the Ovide Lejeune family from Old Hickory and its acquisition by the Lacour brothers marked a turning point in the history of the property. From about 1880 until well into the twentieth century, Old Hickory apparently was not lived in except for an occasional overseer employed by the Lacour brothers, or an employee of another nearby property owner. From 1936 to 1957, the house was used as a public school for blacks in northeastern Pointe Coupee. Thereafter, it stood empty except when it was used to store hay. Although the Lacour family was closely tied to the history of Old Hickory after they acquired it, none of the Lacour owners lived in the house.

Street address: SE of LaCour La 419, .5 miles southest of the intersection of La 972 LaCour, LA USA County / Borough / Parish: Pointe Coupee Year listed: 1979 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1825-1849 Historic function: Domestic. Sub - Single Dwelling Current function: Domestic. Sub - Single Dwelling Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.