Feb 24, 2025 Story by: Editor
WALLACE, La. (AP) — A historic stretch of Louisiana’s landscape, known for its centuries-old sugar cane plantations and Afro-Creole heritage along the Mississippi River, was under consideration for rare federal protection following a multi-year National Park Service review.
However, earlier this month, the agency withdrew the 11-mile (18-kilometer) section, known as Great River Road, from being designated a National Historic Landmark. This decision came at the request of state officials, who hailed it as a victory for economic growth.
Community groups, on the other hand, criticized the move, arguing that it undermines efforts to safeguard the cultural legacies of free African American communities that emerged from slavery.
Located in St. John the Baptist Parish, within Louisiana’s heavily industrialized Chemical Corridor, the region has been a battleground between grassroots organizations opposing the expansion of polluting industries and officials who emphasize the economic benefits of industrial development. According to the Environmental Defense Fund’s climate vulnerability index, this area is among the most affected by climate injustice nationwide.
Ashley Rogers, executive director of the nearby Whitney Plantation, attributed the removal of the Great River Road from federal consideration to the “changing priorities” of the Trump administration, calling it another setback for “a culture under attack.”
“It’s 100% because of the politics of the current administration, it’s not because we’ve suddenly decided that this place doesn’t matter,” Rogers said.
A National Park Service study completed in October determined that the Great River Road’s landscape holds “exceptional integrity,” reflecting the experience of life and labor within the plantation system of the American South.
The region’s well-preserved plantation buildings have even served as filming locations, such as in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” to authentically depict the antebellum era. However, beyond these structures lies a significant yet often overlooked history of enslaved individuals, whose burial sites are believed to be hidden within surrounding cane fields, with many of their descendants still residing in nearby communities.
The study found the region eligible for the same federal recognition granted to approximately 2,600 of the nation’s most significant historic sites, including Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate, and Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.
Despite this, National Park Service official Joy Beasley, who oversees historic landmark designations, stated in a Feb. 13 letter to the Army Corps of Engineers that the determination was “premature and untimely,” given that a previously planned grain terminal threatening historic sites was no longer in development.
Beasley noted that the reversal was prompted by a request from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, which oversees environmental regulations and has consistently supported industrial expansion.
Aurelia S. Giacometto, head of the department, framed the decision as a means of reducing federal intervention and fostering development opportunities in the region.
“I’m grateful that the Trump Administration understands that states and localities are better at determining their interests relating to clean air, water and developing industry than leaving crucial decisions like those to Washington,” Giacometto said in a statement.
Port of South Louisiana CEO Paul Matthew stated in a press release that businesses are eager to invest and expand along the Mississippi River, arguing that such developments would improve quality of life while maintaining cultural heritage.
“If you really want to lift people out of poverty, you get them work and increase job opportunities,” said Republican Gov. Jeff Landry.
Local historical and community organizations, however, believe economic improvement can be achieved by preserving and promoting the region’s history instead of prioritizing industrialization.
The area’s deteriorating homes and abandoned buildings highlight years of underinvestment, but Joy Banner, co-founder of the nonprofit The Descendants Project, believes this trend can be reversed through heritage conservation rather than further industrial development.
Banner played a key role in blocking the construction of a $600 million industrial grain terminal in her hometown of Wallace, a predominantly Black community. This victory led to the National Park Service’s study of the area. A spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers confirmed that any future industrial projects in the Great River Road region would still need to assess their impact on historical and cultural heritage.
In the Willow Grove neighborhood, 76-year-old Isabella Poche continues to maintain the cemetery where her family members and others from the Black community were laid to rest, a tradition upheld through a mutual aid society she now leads. Beyond the sugar cane fields where her ancestors once labored, a grand plantation home stands along the riverbank—a place she hopes remains preserved.
“I don’t want to move anywhere else,” Poche said. “I’ve been here all my life.” Source: US News
