"You'll be introduced by name, not just to the people whose portraits hang in this historic home, but to the enslaved men and women who built this plantation and made it thrive." — from the introduction every guided tour opens with
223 years, in brief
The house is built
Landowner Robin de Logny commissions the house in 1787; Charles Paquet, an enslaved master builder, designs and constructs it by 1790. De Logny paid Paquet in rice, corn, livestock, and cash — and Paquet gained his freedom during the build. Jean Noel Destrehan, who needed roughly 100 enslaved workers to run the sugar fields, becomes the plantation's namesake owner in the years that follow.
The German Coast Uprising
The largest slave revolt in U.S. history, led by Charles Deslondes, moves downriver toward New Orleans before being put down. Jean Noel Destrehan presided over one of the three resulting trials, held at Destrehan, where 67 enslaved people were tried. The Miller-Haydel Museum's exhibit — with artwork by folk artist Lorraine Gendron — tells this history in detail.
The estate divides, then reunites
Jean Noel Destrehan dies in 1823, splitting the estate among his children. In 1839, Pierre Rost — married to Destrehan's daughter Louise Odile — buys the plantation outright, remodels it in the Greek Revival style, and grows it into the largest sugar producer in St. Charles Parish.
Rost Home Colony
Union forces seized the plantation in 1862; formerly enslaved people and refugees live and work there under the Freedmen's Bureau — one of the earliest such colonies in the South — until it's returned to the Rost family in 1867.
Sold, drilled, and abandoned
Emile Rost sells the plantation out of the family in 1910; by 1914 it belongs to the Mexican Oil Company (later Amoco), which builds a refinery and company town on the grounds. When the refinery closes in 1958, the house is abandoned and left to vandals drawn by a local legend of Jean Lafitte's buried treasure.
River Road Historical Society
Local citizens form the Society in 1968; it's chartered by the State of Louisiana in January 1969. Amoco donates the house and roughly four acres to the Society in December 1971, and restoration begins.
A living history museum
Guided tours, exhibits, and education programs keep the full history of the site, family and enslaved community both, in view.
The Enslaved Registry
Primary-source documentation the museum makes available to researchers and visitors, carried over directly from the current site's archive.
1782 Sale Record
Enslaved people included in the 1782 sale of the plantation by Guillaume Guignan to Robert de Logny.
1792 Inventory
Inventory of enslaved people in the estate of Antoine Robert de Logny.
1825 Purchase Record
Enslaved people purchased by Stephen Henderson from the estate of Celeste Robin de Logny, widow of Jean Destrehan.
1838 Succession
Enslaved people included in the succession of Stephen Henderson.
1840–1860 U.S. Census data is also on file, documenting roughly 210 enslaved people at Destrehan by 1850. View the full registry on the current site →
Since 1968, the River Road Historical Society has preserved the historic buildings of River Road and used Destrehan Plantation as a learning environment — funding new exhibits, education programs, and public events through tour proceeds and donations.
See it in person
A guided tour covers the main house, the enslaved cabin, and both museum exhibits — with a daily historical demonstration on the grounds.