Fire decimates Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana: What we know so far

[LiberalArkie]

May 16, 2025

Crews continued to douse water onto Louisiana's Nottoway Plantation on May 16, local media reported, a day after a devastating fire broke out at the mansion.

Photos published by local outlet WVUE showed the home, which dates back to the antebellum South and was once home to slaves, had virtually been ruined by the fire that sparked in Iberville Parish on May 15.

The blaze began sometime around 2 p.m. local time and no guests were present at the time, according to the New Orleans Advocate and WBRZ.

In a Facebook post on May 15, Chris Daigle, president of Iberville Parish's government, said there were no injuries reported in the fire.

Snip

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fire-decimates-nottoway-plantation-in-louisiana-what-we-know-so-far/ar-AA1EV1sg?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[chowder66]

1. It's gone. Pictures at link

Little remains of the historic Nottoway plantation home in Iberville Parish after a fire reduced the 160-year-old mansion to rubble on Thursday.

Charred pieces framework had fallen to the slab, with soot surrounding the once grandiose property. The prominent white columns that supported the roof were mostly gone.

White Castle officials are investigating what caused the fire and have begun combing through the remains.

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/morning-after-nottoway-fire/article_3784eb7c-0098-5f7e-aff9-e7a3e534c7bf.html

[Silent Type]

2. If it were up to me, I'd burn all the Civil War era Planatation mansions down. They just have a bad vibe.

[LauraInLA]

3. My friend and her kids visited one in Louisiana that does extensive teaching about the horrors of slavery and

the plantation system. I think some of it can help to internalize if you’re actually on the ground.

[Silent Type]

4. When I lived in Raleigh NC as a young kid, our house backed up to a large old Plantation with slave shacks.

We could climb our fence and walk in the acres of land, but even at age 10 it just felt creepy and vile.

[localroger]

5. Most of the plantation homes remaining are used for this purpose

I toured Nottoway about 20 years ago. They were quite candid about the property's checkered history, including the reason it was still standing when most of the other plantations in the area had been burned by the Union army. The owner was connected and had negotiated separately with the northern army to spare the place. The slave homes were as-is and on the tour. Nobody was living in style in the grandiose mansion, as the whole thing was operated as a museum. Some of it was impressive; Nottoway was the first structure with inside running water in the state, possibly in the whole South. But the human costs were not glossed over, including the massive amount of exacting skilled slave labor which went into its construction. It's a shame that it's gone like this after so many years, because it was an interesting intersection of craftsmanship and horror.

[Wonder Why]

6. "White Castle officials are investigating...". Is that where they cooked those little burgers?