A Louisiana River Town Near Baton Rouge Is A Quiet Escape With Southern Charm And Unique Shops

Home to some of Louisiana's best-preserved plantation homes dating back to the early 1800s, the old cotton town of St. Francisville is now a Southern history-lover's ideal destination. This beautiful small town built on a bend in the Mississippi River about 35 minutes north of Baton Rouge by car is an excellent home base for a long weekend spent reliving Louisiana's Antebellum past and taking in a distinctly southern community that keeps visitors coming back time and time again thanks to its timeless charm and simple beauty.

St. Francisville is nestled in the gentle, rolling hills, amid the pines and the hardwoods of the region. Known as "Louisiana's Hill Country," West Feliciana Parish is also home to a number of significant historical sites, including pre-Civil War plantations, historic battlefields, churches dating back to the 19th century, an old open-air market that's now a great place for shoppers in search of trinkets and antiques, and even a historic trading post established in the late 1700s. And, while its regional history is definitely the top draw of St. Francisville, more adventurous visitors can spread out a bit and enjoy hiking and biking trails that meander through the woods of this beautiful stretch of south Louisiana. Like St. Martinville, Louisiana's underrated "petit Paris," which features culture, history and bayou charm, St. Francisville has broad appeal to visitors of all stripes. 

The cotton-growing history of St. Francisvlle is both colorful and tragic. Several Antebellum (pre-Civil War) plantation homes are preserved in the woods and fields around the community, and their history is complicated. While they provided a vital hub of Southern commerce in the early 1800s, they also employed slave labor. The history and beauty of the plantation culture of that era comes with a dark side. Perhaps the best-known of the plantation homes around St. Francisville is Rosedown. Before the Civil War, Rosedown was the center of an immense cotton-production operation. Owner Daniel Turnbull achieved great wealth by growing the textile crop. At its peak, his operation, based from a stunning Victorian-era plantation home, encompassed almost 3,500 acres of planted cotton. Another historic plantation home is the Oakley House, where artist and naturalist John James Audubon once worked as a tutor for the plantation owner's daughter. Both Rosedown and Oakley House, as well as other plantations in the area, like the historic Myrtles Plantation, are open to the public for tours. St. Francisville isn't the only Louisiana city that serves as a hub of architecture and culture, but it might be the best place to experience pre-Civil War history in the state. 

The plantations aren't the only historically significant sites in and around St. Francisville. The site of the Siege at Port Hudson, a significant Civil War battle in 1863 that followed the fall of New Orleans, which is home to some lavish mansions, to the Union the year prior. The battlefield, located just south of St. Francisville, is where Confederate troops tried and failed to protect access to the Mississippi River.

Today, St. Francisville is a charming Southern town that dutifully honors its history while embracing its present and future as a destination for visitors seeking a city getaway or an escape to learn about the region's past. Shoppers will love a visit to historic Market Hall, once an open-air market built in the 1890s and now a great place to visit artisan stalls where local merchants offer up rare gems and trinkets for sale. The city's vibrant city center is also home to some great small-town shopping, like Birds of a Feather, which specializes in European antiques, and The Backwoods Gallery, a great little art gallery. For antique enthusiasts, the West Feliciana Antique Mall, located just west of the city's center, is a must-stop. It's home to several antique vendors, and serious antique shoppers could easily kill an entire day there.

For more outdoors-centric visitors, St. Francisville is also a destination for hikers, mountain bikers and even kayakers. The area is home to miles of hiking and fat-tire trails, and the Clark Creek Nature area, which locals call the "little Grand Canyon," is situated about 23 miles north of St. Francisville across the border in Mississippi, and is home to dozens of waterfalls ranging in height from 10 to 30 feet. The 700-acre state park property boasts a nature trail and is home to a recovering population of Mississippi black bears. Between its lively and colorful history and the chance to get outside and see this beautiful part of Louisiana (and a touch of Mississippi, too), a visit to St. Francisville offers up all the ingredients for a great small-town visit.