St. John the Baptist Parish’s rural west bank is close to surpassing the first hurdle to gaining the country’s most prestigious historic designation.
The National Park Service released a draft study into whether the 11-mile stretch of the Mississippi River could be eligible for becoming a National Historic Landmark District. The designation is saved for places of “exceptional historical” significance that help tell the story of the United States, like George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon or the French Quarter neighborhood in New Orleans.
The study reviewed the west bank’s more than 250-year history and found the area’s rich past meant it could qualify for all levels of local, state and federal recognition.
As much of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge down through New Orleans has grown industrialized, St. John’s west bank is one of the longest portions of the river without heavy industry. The study calls the area “remarkably unique,” not only for the agricultural landscape or agriculture, but because of the culture and people.
Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation Director Brian Davis helped advocate for the federal government to consider this isolated area for landmark status. He called it “a rare survivor” when you look at the state’s Mississippi River industrial corridor.
“You didn't have a lot of intrusion from industry or other activities,” Davis said. “So, that's really what has kept this in a bit of a time warp, but it also helped preserve the very strong historic buildings and the character of the whole region and the culture.”
The lack of industrial development allows the area to serve as an almost untouched window into the bygone eras of European settlement, slavery and Reconstruction as well as the sugar industry’s powerhouse history.
The west bank runs from Vacherie to Lucy with several small communities in between. Joy Banner is a west bank native and led the effort to contact the Park Service with historic preservation groups like Davis’. Her family has lived in the area for generations, like many in the area, and descend from the Black Americans enslaved on plantations nearby.
She founded a nonprofit with her sister back in 2021 called the Descendants Project with the goal of preserving and uplifting descendant communities like her own. Her group has submitted research into the area’s history as part of the Park Service’s study.
“I can't imagine that they not see the beauty, the significance, the uniqueness, the opportunities that is getting worldwide attention,” Banner said.
The idea gained steam after a company planned to build a 275-foot-tall grain elevator several hundred feet away from homes in Wallace, her west bank community. The Banners, alongside other residents who opposed the project, put up several roadblocks to delay the development, fearing it could become a gateway to more plants. Although industrial development is possible in landmark districts, projects would undergo a higher level of scrutiny to ensure it doesn't harm the integrity of the landscape.
The grain elevator project was canceled last week in the middle of a lengthy permit review by the Army Corps of Engineers after the company failed to properly account for how it would impact cultural resources and nearby plantation museums.
The state has designated several portions of the west bank as “opportunity zones,” to incentivize industrial development. Banner and Davis hope that if the area achieves landmark status, the west bank could benefit from other forms of economic development such as tourism or film.
The prospect of the grain elevator divided the area over what the future of the west bank should look like.
Some believe the west bank should benefit from the tax revenue generated by industrial facilities like their neighbors on the east bank, despite the pollution.
Kim Mathieu lives in Lucy and used to work for several major plants. He supports preserving the area as he feels the lack of industry is what makes it special. It's why he moved back home.
“This is the last place where there was no plants, so you could pretty much have clean air and not the noise pollution,” Mathieu said.
If the area becomes a landmark, the designation would also unlock residents’ access to new tax and grant programs to help maintain their properties.
The extensive process to become a landmark takes two to five years. The National Park Service is accepting public comment on its draft study through the end of August.
