Fire engulfs much of Louisiana plantation house with deep legacy of slavery

Nearly a dozen crews battled blaze at Nottoway, a historic structure converted to ‘place of reflection and education’

Flames ripped through a massive mansion in Louisiana, destroying much of the historic structure that was used as a plantation house when it was completed in 1859 before eventually becoming “a place of reflection, education and dialogue” given the more than 150 people who were enslaved there before the abolition of slavery in the US, authorities said.

The fire that engulfed the Nottoway plantation house on Thursday devastated the building along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Chris Daigle, the president of Iberville parish (Louisiana’s term for county), said on social media. Nearly a dozen fire departments from surrounding towns battled the blaze, he said. No injuries were reported.