Edwin Epps House

Completed in 1852 and owned by Edwin Epps, a former overseer of Oakland Plantation, the Edwin Epps House is located where LSU Alexandria stands today. This single story Creole cottage was originally built on Bayou Boeuf near Holmesville in Avoyelles Parish. The house was relocated to Bunkie, Louisiana in 1976 and to LSUA in 1999. Establishing himself as a planter, Epps owned Solomon Northup, who helped build the house. Epps was informed in this house that Northup, a slave he had owned for ten years (1843-53), was a kidnapped free man, who would be returned to his family in New York. After regaining his freedom, Northup told his story in the famous slave narrative "Twelve Years a Slave". His book inspired the documentary “Solomon Northup's Odyssey" and the movie "12 Years a Slave”.