Oak Alley Plantation

Oak Alley Plantation is a historic plantation located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, in the community of Vacherie, St. James Parish, Louisiana, U.S. Oak Alley is named for its distinguishing visual feature, an alley (French allée) or canopied path, created by a double row of southern live oak trees about 800 feet (240 meters) long, planted in the early 18th century — long before the present house was built. The allée or tree avenue runs between the home and the River. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture and landscaping, and for the agricultural innovation of grafting pecan trees, performed there in 1846–47 by an enslaved gardener.HistoryJacques and Celina RomanThe Bon Séjour plantation, as Oak Alley was originally named, was established to grow sugarcane, by Valcour Aime when he purchased the land in 1830. Aime, known as the "King of Sugar," was one of the wealthiest men in the South. In 1836, Valcour Aime exchanged this piece of property with his brother-in-law Jacques Télesphore Roman for a plantation owned by Roman. The following year Jacques Roman began building the present mansion under the oversight of George Swainy and entirely with enslaved labor. The mansion was completed in 1839. Roman's father-in-law, Joseph Pilié, was an architect and probably designed the house.