1969 Louisiana Dept. of Highways Pictorial Map of Antebellum Homes in Louisiana

This is a 1969 Carl Corley and Louisiana Department of Highways pictorial map of Antebellum mansions in Louisiana.

A Closer Look

Coverage embraces Louisiana with grand antebellum mansions highlighted throughout. The highest concentration of homes appears along the River Road, known as 'Millionaire's Row'. Aside from the antebellum mansions, American Civil War sites are identified with illustrations. A battle drum, saber, and Confederate flag appear along the right border, underscoring Confederate nostalgia. Vignettes of 'plantation life' complete this nostalgic aesthetic, with Southern Belles in hoop skirts and young Southern gentlemen in Confederate uniforms.

Louisiana's Antebellum Plantation Houses

Over 150 plantations are on the National Registry of Historic Places in Louisiana. These plantations bring in tens of millions of dollars from tourists annually, making them a critical part of Louisiana's tourism economy. The grand plantation houses represent a 'gilded nostalgia' for the Antebellum era. Stoked by the popularity of Gone with the Wind (still the highest-grossing movie of all time when adjusted for inflation), the former plantations profited on touristic nostalgia for hoop skirts and mint juleps. Today, many of the plantations are also incorporating the stories of the enslaved, and a handful focus exclusively on the realities of slavery instead of the 'gilded' history.

Publication History and Census

This map was published by the Sunday Advocate, a newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on June 29, 1969. The original map was published by the Art and Model Unit Public Relations and Educational Section of the Louisiana Department of Highways c. 1969. It is part of a series of 4 maps of Louisiana done in the same style for the Louisiana Department of Highways, two of which (including the present map) are signed by Department of Highways illustrator Carl V. Corley. (Corley's signature is below the saber and Confederate flag near the right border.) This is the only known surviving example of the Sunday Advocate edition of this map. We note only 6 examples of the Department of Highways edition cataloged in OCLC.