Villere Plantation ruins

UPDATE

The Villere Plantation's brick drainage pump ruins have been entrusted, through a conservation easement  to the St. Bernard Parish Historical Society.  Unfortunately, the agreement expires at the end of the terms of an EPA consent decree.  It would be a shame for our national historical treasure to be lost. Valero Energy has the opportunity to do the right thing and make edits to the consent decree which includes making the conservation easement permanent and merging the politically seated CAP meeting with the public meetings.


The wooded area of the former Villere Plantation would make a wonderful bird and wildlife sanctuary and is perfectly situated to add a wetlands observation walkway at the 40 arpent canal.

The Villere Plantation was listed as a War of 1812 Preservation Priority in the 2007 American Battlefield Protection Program Report to Congress. "The priorities indicate which sites, in the opinion of the National Park Service, merit immediate preservation action, which need ongoing preservation action, which require additional study, and which are best suited for commemoration rather than preservation."
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/Rev1812_Final_Report.pdf

This area of the old Villere Plantation land, in Meraux, Louisiana, is just west of the natural waterways that are part of the actual British invasion route of the Battle of New Orleans 1814-1815.  British Major-General Edward Pakenham's forces used the Panel Ditch and the linear (north - south) canal to the east of the Entergy utility pole easement to reach the Villere Plantation home, which was closer to the Mississippi River. Notes from Parish Historian



map of Villere, Lacoste, Chalmette, and Jumoville Plantations http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/orl_villere.html

The Villere archaeological brick ruins are located in the area just north of the Valero Energy crude oil tank farm {page 43 of  link } .  This area is home to nesting eagles and would be a really cool place not only for a walking history tour but also for a nature trail and bird sanctuary.

below photo of Villere drainage mechanism in the 1930's

below photo of same in the 1970's

below:  Photograph by John Messina for Series: DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency's Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, compiled 1972 - 1977

In time for the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans it would be a nice gesture if Valero Energy could reinstall a historical sign on St Bernard Highway and continue in perpetuity the conservation easement for the archaeological ruins of the drainage machine.

This monument marker was once located at Murphy Oil refinery, now owned by Valero Energy, in an area of the old Villere land closer to the river.  This is where the December 23, 1814 scrimmage occurred, prior to the January 1815 Battle of New Orleans (approximately located at 2500 East St Bernard Highway in Eastern Chalmette).

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chalmette_Villere_Plantation_Monument_1972.jpg

map of area with brick ruins of drainage pump

Although not indicated on the above map, Floral Estates is an established residential neighborhood, revitalized since Fall 2005; it was the location of the first S.L.A.B. festival in 2007.  S.L.A.B. means support landscaping and beautification, which is a main focus of the Rediscover District C association.  The S.L.A.B. festival raised funds for beautification projects throughout the parish. It was held on two concrete slab remnants of houses voluntarily demolished after the Murphy Oil crude oil spill and the levee failures in Hurricane Katrina.  

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historical photos of St Bernard

https://chrisdier504.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/50-historic-photos-of-st-bernard-parish/


Chalmette Vista 1950's

Villere Plantation drainage mechanism 1930's

and the historical ruins today

Villere Plantation: Home of Louisiana's 2nd Governor (First Native Governor and First Creole Governor) Occupied by British Forces Gen Pakenham in 1814 Historic Trees along the Panel Ditch and linear canal and Historic Brick Structure Ruins in the wetlands north of the 20 arpent canal. Site of the actual British Invasion route for the Battle of New Orleans .

Villere Plantation: Home of Louisiana's 2nd Governor (First Native Governor and First Creole Governor) Occupied by British Forces Gen Pakenham in 1814

The Villere Plantation home was located on the South Side of Judge Perez on the current Meraux refinery processing campus. It burned in the 1930's. In the community of Meraux, St Bernard Parish Louisiana between the 20 and 40 arpent canals, on the western border of Meraux, at Magistrate Street and Jacob Drive: Magistrate Street is the continuation of the natural waterway Panel Ditch. This was the actual British Invasion Route for the Battle of New Orleans. British General Pakenham's forces used the Panel Ditch and the linear (north - south) canal to the east of the Entergy utility pole easement to reach the Villere Plantation and the Mississippi River.

Historically significant and worth preserving the trail or invasion route and its historic trees run along the length of this linear canal from the rightofway along the 20 arpent to the rightofway along the 40 arpent. In the 19th century ditches like the Panel Ditch were used in St Bernard Parish to delineate areas which were more desirable for cultivating crops from those that were less desirable. This wetlands area below {or north} of the Panel Ditch and before the cypress swamp was used to cultivate rice, as these fields tended to stay flooded.

The historic brick structure is a drainage machine which would drain the more desirable fields for crops such as sugar cane and lumber.

Where Magistrate Street ends and one could enter the property, this was the Panel Ditch. Just to the East of the Entergy utility pole easement, there is an Historic brick structure and associated historic oak trees. The brick structure is the ruins of the drainage pump for the Villere Plantation.This drainage machine was used to drain the fields and the smaller linear ditches to the bigger canals. The canals were used to float cypress lumber down to the sawmills. The Villere Plantation had such a timber crop and a small saw mill. The plantation also had the cash crops of sugar cane and rice.

(Notes from St Bernard Parish Historian, Mr William Hyland)

Interesting Links to Villere's History

map of Villere, Lacoste, Chalmette, Jumoville Plantation property lines
http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/orl_villere.htmlpicture of plantation home that was south of judge perez drhttp://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/LSA&CISOPTR=1205&CISOBOX=1&REC=6
villere's bio (8 children)http://enlou.com/people/villerejp-bio.htm

page 40 of this book states the plantation was taken down for a sewage plant, Mr Hyland disputed this and stated the plantation burned in the 1930's on the Meraux refinery plant grounds South of Judge Perezhttp://books.google.com/books?id=folWLmrFXqwC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=%22villere+plantation%22&source=web&ots=cM7oAI9BRf&sig=i120Bxq517Kyn4mdHN2cuSSNTUw
Notes from Mr. William Hyland St Berand Parish Historian