Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)

The Enslaved

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, September 6, 2019

1. The Enslaved Marker

Inscription. Beneath this alley of oaks were 20 double cabins that housed enslaved families from 1829 to 1862. They were the workforce for Marigny's Fontainebleau Plantation and included skilled steam engineers who managed the power source for the sugar presses and lumber mill. Brickmaking was the site's most profitable endeavor, but capable blacksmiths, schooner crews, masons, sawyers, and ox drivers were also part of the enslaved labor. A shoemaker, seamstress, and field hands were also noted in papers of the time.

Children, with their small hands, fed sugar cane into steam operated presses during harvest. Sugar refining was hazardous work, and a small hospital was kept onsite. Tending sheep, cattle, horses, mules, and oxen was a daily affair.

In 1840, 153 enslaved individuals were documented here including 57 children under the age of 10. The economic panic of 1837, crop failure, and fallen sugar prices led to the 1852 sale of Fontainebleau, further impacting enslaved families. The women, Violette and Bonnine were babies when Fontainebleau was built in 1829, and 23 years later were sold with their own children to the plantation's new owner, Pierre Poutz.

Erected 2019

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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Agriculture • Industry & Commerce • Science & Medicine • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 30° 20.2′ N, 90° 2.368′ W. Marker is in Mandeville, Louisiana, in St. Tammany Parish. It is on Group Camp Road (State Highway 1089) one mile south of U.S. 190. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 62883 LA-1089, Mandeville LA 70471, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Florida Parishes

and in Greater New Orleans.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, September 6, 2019

2. The Enslaved Marker

3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Sugar Mill Operation (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fontainebleau Plantation Sugar Mill (about 600 feet away); Native Peoples (approx. 0.2 miles away); Pottery Hill (approx. 1.3 miles away); Battle of Lake Pontchartrain (approx. 1½ miles away); Dew Drop Social and Benevolent Hall (approx. 1.9 miles away); Our Lady Of The Lake Church (approx. 2.2 miles away); Rest Awhile (approx. 2.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mandeville.

More about this marker. Located at the area know as Alley of Oaks, within the Fontainebleau State Park. Fee is required to access the park, was $3.00 USD per adult at time of visit.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 30, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 7, 2019, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 1,128 times since then and 47 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 7, 2019.