Photos

"From Baton Rouge to New Orleans, the great sugar plantations border both sides of the river all the way,...Plenty of dwellings standing so close together, for long distances, that the broad river lying between two rows, becomes sort of a spacious street. A most home-like and happy looking region."
--- MARK TWAIN

Along the Mississippi River from New Orleans north to Baton Rouge, sugar cane plantation owners built decadent mansions, many in the Greek Revival style. In this image, The Houmas House was built by John Burnside in the 1840s, who had the largest number of slaves in Louisiana.