Follow Me on Pinterest

Saturday, June 30, 2007

07/08 Academic Decathlon Art Selection #4

This lovely plantation is called Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana. Aren't the trees really beautiful! Oaks can live to be many hundreds of years old. See what you can find out about Oak Alley which was begun in 1837. How were plantations pivotal in the Civil War?

2 comments:

Vijay said...

The Oak Alley Plantation is located in Louisiana. It is protected as a "National Historic Landmark". It contains a 240-meter alley with live oaks all along on both sides, hence, given the name "Oak Alley". The alley leads towards the Mississippi River. At the end of the alley, a mansion was built in 1837. The outside feature of the mansion is the colonnade of 28 colossal Doric columns surrounding the mansion. It also has a square floor plan containing a large central hall.

Plantations were pivotal in the Civil War because many slaves would work in the fields during pre-Civil War. Because of this, many were sold. For example, the Oak Alley Plantation was sold in 1866, an year after the Civil War ended.

Anonymous said...

Like many other plantations sprawled across the South, the Oak Valley Plantation has vertical Doric-style columns and large, charming windows. However, a unique feature of this particular plantation is the alley of double oaks that gives the house its name. The curved and organic shaped tree limbs contrast the order and symmetry of the residence. The house truly looks majestic and seems like it could have come directly from a scene from "The Notebook".

The plantation was pivotal to life in the South. It was the foundation of the Southern economy. After the Civil War, these grandiose houses were turned into ghostly buildings. It's a marvelous thing that citizen's are preserving our history.

Anna G., 2nd Period