HistoricSiteMarkers
Colonial AmericaEarly Republic

Allard Plantation

New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

Marker Inscription

Allard Plantation. Plantation of Louis Allard was purchased by his grandfather, Don Santiago Lorreins in 1770's from estate of Francisco Hery, called Duplanty, builder of the first Cabildo Building in N.O. in 1769. Acquired from Allard in 1845 by J. McDonough -- given to N.O. in 1850. La Plantation Allard. La plantation de Louis Allard, achetée par son grand-père Don Santiago Lorreins vers 1770, avait appartenu à des biens de Francisco Héry, surnommé Duplanty, qui construisit en 1769 le premier Cabildo de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Vendue par Allard en 1845 à J. McDonough, elle fut offerte en 1850 à la Nouvelle-Orléans.

Erected by Louisiana Tourist Development Commission

The Story

This land was once the Allard plantation, tied to some of colonial Louisiana's founding families. Purchased in the 1770s by Don Santiago Lorreins from the estate of Francisco Hery — called Duplanty, who built New Orleans's first Cabildo in 1769 — it passed to Louis Allard and, in 1845, to the philanthropist John McDonogh, who gave it to New Orleans in 1850. Like other Louisiana plantations of its era it was worked by enslaved laborers, and the tract later became the heart of the city's City Park.

Why it matters

The plantation's story maps the passage of Louisiana land from Spanish and French colonial hands into the American city, and from private estate into public ground.

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Related people

  • · Louis Allard
  • · John McDonogh

Themes & tags

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