Oakland Plantation
Oakland
Plantation was founded on a 1785
Spanish-era land grant by Jean Pierre
Emanuel Prud'homme. A small
enslaved work force grew tobacco and
indigo. From domestic and agricultural
workers to craftsmen such as
blacksmiths, carpenters and masons,
the skills and strengths of enslaved
Africans were vital to the survival of
the plantation. The invention of the
cotton gin in 1793 made the processing
of large amounts of cotton possible.
Emanuel Prud'homme purchased a
mechanical gin making cotton the
plantation's main crop. As textile mills
increased their demand for cotton, the
use of enslaved labor increased. By the
Civil War, nearly 150 enslaved people
labored on the plantation.<br><br><b>After the Civil War</b> and into
the 20th century, life continued to
revolve around cotton. Descendants of
enslaved workers remained as tenant
farmers and sharecroppers and new
families moved here for work to
support their families. The legacy of
these families, including Helaire,
Metoyer, Williams, Toussaint, Shields,
and others remains as many of their
descendants continue to reside
nearby. The plantation survived the Civil War, Reconstruction, boll weevils,
and the Great Depression. Increasingly
machines replaced the need for draft
animals and farm workers; what began
in the 1930s accelerated after World
War II bringing the end of the
plantation era. The last tenant family
moved off the plantation in the early
1960s. The main house, built in 1821
and updated through the years, was the
Prud'homme family home until acquired
by the National Park Service in 1998.