Listen to Voices from the Trail with storyteller Louis Gossett, Jr.
address 400 Rapides Dr.
Natchitoches, LA 71457
phone (318) 352-0383
open Daily
8:00 am – 4:00 pm
website www.nps.gov/cari

CANE RIVER CREOLE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK/CREOLE CENTER

Established as a historical park by the United States Congress in 1994, the Cane River Creole National Historic Park is comprised of Oakland Plantation and parts of Magnolia Plantation. Within the park, you can see 63 historic structures, vast plantation landscapes, family and plantation records, and an extensive collection of tools, equipment, furniture, and personal items from the region’s rich history.

Visitors learn about colonial times in this crossroads region, the rise of cotton, the ruin and rebirth associated with the Civil War, and the changes brought about by out-migration and modernization in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In particular, the park relates the story of plantation slavery in the area, particularly the complex intersections of French and African cultures in the creation of a truly “Creole” society. Interpretive programs highlight the different aspects of everyday life at these plantations and along Cane River in general.