Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 - (Page 42)

LOUISIANA ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS For more information about Louisiana’s museum community, telephone, fax, or write: Louisiana Association of Museums, P.O. Box 4434, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4434 (225) 383-6800 Alexandria’s Kent Plantation House, which dates back before the Louisiana Purchase, was originally part of a 500acre Spanish land grant. Central Louisiana’s frontier days revealed at Kent House Plantation s one of the oldest standing structures in Louisiana, Kent Plantation House in Alexandria provides a window to the past connecting four centuries. Construction on the historic structure started in the late 1700s and provides visitors a glimpse at how life unfolded when the region was considered the frontier. Kent Plantation House, which sits on a four-acre complex in Alexandria, was completed before the Louisiana Purchase A on a 500-acre Spanish land grant. Eventually the plantation comprised more than 1,700 acres. Even though it is not in its original location, the house is still on a part of the original grant. In the 1940s the American Legion owned the house and used it as a clubhouse until the 1960s, when the Legion built a new facility elsewhere. A local group formed the Friends of Kent and began a fund-raising campaign to save the house. In 1963 the Legion donated the house to the Friends, who then had the house moved in January 1964 to land that the Friends purchased from a direct descendant of the house’s builder. The house was placed on the National Historic Register in 1971 and opened for tours in 1975. A March 2003 ceremony officially recognized the American Legion for its donation. The six-room French colonial style house standing on piers was built by Pierre Baillio. Baillio was born in Natchitoches, where his father was stationed with the Kent Plantation House 3601 Bayou Rapides Road Office (318) 487-5998 Fax (318) 442-4154 Gift shop (318) 487-5660 Hours: Mondays – Saturdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Seniors & military $4 www.kenthouse.org Children 6-12 $2 Adults $5 Alexandria, LA 71303 Tours: 9, 10, 11 a.m. & 1, 2, 3 p.m. 42 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Fall 2005 http://www.kenthouse.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 Contents Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina and Rita Tabasco: Edmund McIlhenny and the Birth of a Louisiana Pepper Sauce Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans’ Coffee Connection No Man’s Land Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by Roy Blount, Jr. )

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

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