Our Travel Adventures: St Joseph Planation

Our first plantation tour was of St Joseph plantation. The first name of the plantation was Priestly Plantation. St Joseph Plantation is still an operating Sugar Planation and is still owned and operated by descendants of Joseph Waguespack. Joseph purchased the plantation at a Sheriff's auction following the civil war. Joseph's descendants the Waguespack's and Simon families have restore the plantation and kept the sugarcane plantation operating for over 135 years. We met two of Joseph's great great great grandchildren.

Front gate to the St Joseph Plantation

The Front Porch of the Grand House

Standing in one room taking a photo all the way to the other side of the house through the door ways. It is pretty neat how you can see all the way across the house from one room to another.

The back of the Grand House. The architecture of the plantation homes is amazing. The Grand House of St Joseph Plantation was built by slaves when the Priestly Family owned the plantation.

This is a slave cabin with the sugar pot in front that was used for cooking down the sugar cane.

Slave cabins on the plantation.

After the Civil War ended and the slaves were freed many stayed on at the plantations and became paid staff. The plantation owner created their own script that was worthless everywhere except the plantation store. The first three pictures are of the script.

A record of the value of the slaves on the plantation in 1858. This is the value used when the Priestly family sold the plantation so that they would be paid for the slaves according to the correct value.

Taken from the back door of the plantation.

We met Jim Simon, he is one of the great great great grandsons to Joseph Waguespack. Jim was raised in the grand house with many of his parents, aunt & uncle and cousins. He goes out to the plantation a few days a week to tend the gardens, trees and grounds. Jim is 82 years old and looks like he is more like 70 years old.