Oakland Plantation has 17 of its original outbuildings still remaining. Outbuildings still on the plantation include two pigeonniers, an overseer’s house, massive roofed log corn crib, carriage house, mule barn that was originally a smokehouse, carpenter’s shop, and cabins.

The historic property is a National Bicentennial Farm, only one of two of such Farms west of the Mississippi River, both of which are in Natchitoches Parish. A unit of Cane River Creole National Historical Park, Oakland was acquired by the National Park Service in 1998.

Trinity Episcopal Church carries with it many memories and associations dating back to pre-Civil War days. It was the first non-Roman Catholic church in Natchitoches and the third Episcopal church in Louisiana.

Work on the building began in 1857. However, the life of the congregation predates the building. The first Episcopal service inNatchitoches was held in the court House on Sunday, March 31, 1839, with the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk, missionary Bishop of the Southwest, as the officiant; and old Parish Register entries date back to May 23, 1841.

The Cook-Taylor House (Steel Magnolias House) Written history of this home states that it was originally built in the 1840's by Italian architects, Trizini and Soldini, and was built for Louis Dupleix as a store. An earlier writer of Natchitoches history, J. H. Cosgrove, referred to it as a "great business spot" and during the Civil War, it has been said it was used as a hospital. In the early 1900's Mr. Jackson L. Bryan moved the home from its original location next to the sidewalk to where it now stands.

This quaint old home is one of the most accessible examples the Creole style of French architecture in the Cane River area. Post in the ground, hipped roof, encircling gallery and central chimney exemplify this distinctive style of architecture. Constructed in typical French colonial fashion with hand-hewn cypress and a bousillage fill (a mixture of mud, Spanish moss and animal hair, much like adobe), the structure was topped with an oversize roof of durable cypress shingles. The overhanging roof forms a gallery around the house’s exterior.

Architectural details uncovered during restoration indicate the Prudhomme-Rouquier Home was built in 1806. It is located on property belonging to Francois Rouquier of North Carolina, acquired through a Spanish land grant between 1764 and 1800. In 1778, Rouquier married Marie Louise Prudhomme, daugher of Jean Baptiste Prudhomme, "Doctor of the King", and an important figure in Natchitoches history. Francois Rouquier was a very wealthy landowner, and his home was considered a showplace of its time, containing more elaborate architectural details than other structures in the area.

The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum is a dazzling $23-million museum complex in historic downtown Natchitoches. 

The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame's collection of portraits and memorabilia celebrate the achievements of more than 300 legendary Louisiana athletes, coaches and other sports figures. Other sports-themed exhibits and interactive media trace the history and importance of sports to life in Louisiana. 

This bronze statue of Natchitoches founder, Chevalier Louis Antoine Juchereau de St.Denis was created by sculptor, Larry Crowder of Fort Worth, Texas. It was sculpted and cast in bronze in Texas. It was erected near the end of the El Camino Real in downtown Natchitoches as “a lasting memorial to the historic bond between Quebec, Louisiana and Texas”.

The inscription is as follows:

Louis Juchereau De St. Denis 1676 – 1744

According to available records, the history of Immaculate Conception Church begins in 1717 (or perhaps 1716) when the Franciscan, Fr. Antonio Margil de Jesus, walked the twenty-one miles from the Spanish Mission at Los Adaes to say Mass at the French Fort St. Jean Baptiste in Natchitoches. Services were also held in private homes or in the post. Editors Note: While local tradition says the home of St.Denis was used for mass, the family resided in Mexico and Mobile at the time, and did not return to Natchitoches until late 1722.

The American Cemetery
“The American Cemetery, is considered by many historians to be the oldest cemetery in the Louisiana Purchase. The American Cemetery contains graves that date to colonial times. Buried within its grounds are war heroes and villains, doctors, politicians, educators, a former mayor who was murdered and a plantation owner who had numerous children with a slave whom he set free by the time of his death.” – The American Cemetery- The Oldest Cemetery In The Louisiana Purchase And A Shrine To God And History, by Payne Williams

Begin your Natchitoches visit at Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site and gain a better understanding and appreciation of the customs and cultures of the early inhabitants of Natchitoches.