The LSU Rural Life Museum is а

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

history in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, US. It is located in the Burden Museum and Gardens, a agricultural research experiment station, and is operated under the aegis of

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. As a state with a diverse cultural ancestry, Louisiana has natives of French, Spanish, Native American, German, African, Acadian, and Anglo American heritage. Guided tours are available for groups of ten or more and must be booked in advance. The Rural Life Museum commemorates the contributions made by its various cultural groups through interpretive programs and events throughout the year. The main portion of the museum is outdoors and consists of homes and outbuildings built in the 18th and 19th centuries. This portion of the museum is divided into three areas.Phillips, Fay ' 'The LSU Rural Life Museum & Windrush Gardens: A Living History' ' (The History Press 2010) * The Working Plantation illustrates the life of working people on a 19th-century plantation, with a main focus on the lives of enslaved persons. The complex buildings include a

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

overseer Overseer may refer to: Professions *Supervisor or superintendent; one who keeps watch over and directs the work of others *Plantations_in_the_American_South#Overseer, Plantation overseer, often in the context of forced labor or Treatment_of_slaves ...

's house, kitchen,

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

cabins, sick house,

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

house,

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop,

sugar house "Sugar Shack" is a song written in 1962 by Keith McCormack. McCormack gave songwriting credit to his aunt, Beulah Faye Voss, after asking what are "those tight pants that girls wear" to which she replied "leotards". The song was recorded in 1963 ...

, church, and

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

. * The Southern part of the outdoor museum includes several cabins and outbuildings, including the Neal home, a

dogtrot house The dogtrot, also known as a breezeway house, dog-run, or possum-trot, is a style of house that was common throughout the Southeastern United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some theories place its origins in the southern Appala ...

; the Stoker barn; the Stoner Athens Cabin; and a pioneer cabin originally located in

Washington Parish Washington Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Washington''; ) is a parish located in the interior southeast corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana, one of the Florida Parishes. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,463. Its parish seat is ...

. This section highlights the contributions of mainly American settlers to Louisiana in the northern and central part of the state in the 19th century. * The

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

portion of the outdoor museums consists of two

style homes, one a replica and the other built by the Bergeron family between 1800 and 1815 on

Bayou Lafourche Bayou Lafourche ( ), originally called Chetimachas River or La Fourche des Chetimaches (the fork of the Chitimacha), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, 2011 b ...

and moved to the museum in 2005. Additionally, the Barn, an interior warehouse open to the public, houses numerous artifacts from the 19th and early 20th centuries that were utilized in the common life rituals of individuals in rural regions of the state. There is a large collection of farming equipment, tools, furnishings and utensils. The barn was moved to its present site from the

Stoker House The Stoker House, or Old Stoker House, in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, northeast of Many, Louisiana, dates from 1848. It is the oldest house in Sabine Parish still at its original site, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Place ...

property in

Sabine Parish, Louisiana Sabine Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de la Sabine'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,155. The parish seat and largest town is Many. Sabine was one of five parishes created in ...

after it was donated in 1999. Windrush gardens and a gift shop are on the grounds and open year-round except for major holidays.

Gallery

File:LSU Rural Life Museum Trip Across Yard From School Cabin.jpg, School Cabin File:LSU Rural Life Museum Trip Barn.jpg, Barn File:LSU Rural Life Museum Trip Cistern.jpg, Cistern File:LSU Rural Life Museum Trip College Grove Baptist Church interior.jpg, Church Interior

References

External links

* Rural Life Museum Open-air museums in Louisiana University museums in Louisiana Rural history museums in the United States Museums in Baton Rouge, Louisiana History museums in Louisiana Tourist attractions in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Houses in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Slave cabins and quarters in the United States {{BatonRougeLA-struct-stub