Panel #9 Mississippi Riverwalk
A) Kenner, Louisiana
Mile 113.0 AHP
This community grew up on a sugar plantation owned by the Kenner family and became a railroad stop in the antebellum years. During the U.S. Civil War, Union troops were sent to Kenner to destroy the rail line in 1892. Charges of pillaging and plundering by the Union soldiers were all confirmed by a military investigation, and the commanding general of New Orleans vowed to punish the offenders. In 1862, the second year of the war, the idea of "Civilized warfare" was still held by both sides.
B) Davis Crevasse
Mile 119.0 AHP
Rice was an early Louisiana export corp, and some of the first rice plantations were located in this area. Planters sometimes dug flumes in the levees to divert water into their rice fields, a dangerous practice which could weaken levees. Strict laws clamped down on rice flumes during the 1800's and many were filled in. On March 8, 1884, a poorly closed rice flume on the Davis Plantation, gave way. The river opened a 1,000-foot wide crevasse in the level and water poured over the countryside for two weeks.
C) Ormand Landing, Louisiana
Mile 122.7 AHP
The Ormand Plantation house is one of the oldest still standing in Louisiana. Its cypress frame is filled with "bouzillage," a mixture of mud, Spanish moss a brick that hardens into a stone-like substance. This style of construction indicates that the house was built before 1790. German settlers built a small red-painted church just below the Ormand Plantation in 1806. River pilots used "Red Church" as a navigation landmark unit it was torn down in 1930.
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