Marksville was founded by accident. Here, in the 1790s, a Venetian peddler named Marco broke a wagon wheel along his travels, and decided to stay and set up a trading post. The resulting town offers visitors a patchwork of colonial history—and more. The 1820 Hypolite-Bordelon House is a window into the life of early European settlers. Fort De Russy was built during the Civil War to defend the Red River. On the prehistoric side, Marksville State Historic Site features a Native American ceremonial center. The first inhabitants of the Marksville area are honored with the annual Fete du Ble Indian Festival. The modern presence of Native Americans is on spectacular display at the 500-room Paragon Casino & Resort, owned by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe. Natural areas, such as Spring Bayou Wildlife Management Area and the Lake Ophelia and Grand Cote National Wildlife Preserves, give hunters, fishermen and nature lovers their due.

Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site, also known as the Marksville State Historic Site, is a Marksville culture archaeological site located 1 mile southeast of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. The site features numerous earthworks built by the prehistoric indigenous peoples of southeastern North America.

Marksville State Historic Site

Established in 1961, the Louisiana State Arboretum was the first such area in the South and the first state-supported arboretum in the United States. To help preserve the Arboretum for future generations, removing or damaging any plants or animals is strictly prohibited. Pets and picnicking are not allowed on the grounds due to the preservation status of this site. Picnic grounds and camping facilities are available at nearby Chicot State Park. 

The Louisiana State Arboretum is large – more than 600 acres of natural growth, embellished with additional plantings of species that are indigenous to the state. Atypical of the terrain in the Louisiana prairieland, the topography of the Arboretum is varied and dramatic. The landscape ranges from nearly flat along the Walker Branch of Lake Chicot to relatively steep slopes along the terrace ridges. Due to this great variation in topography, almost every type of Louisiana vegetation, except coastal marsh and prairie, is represented on the site.
A Visitor Center, located within Chicot State Park and dedicated to the memory of J.D. "Prof" LaFleur, an outdoor enthusiast instrumental in establishing the Arboretum, houses interactive exhibits and meeting facilities. Nature trails take you deep into the wooded areas and longer trails take you along Walker Branch or Ferguson's Gully where several of the footpaths converge. If you walk the trails quietly, you'll discover that sycamores, maples, beeches, magnolias, hickories, ferns, and crane fly orchids are not the only living things in the arboretum. There's a good chance that you'll encounter some two-and four-legged critters, too: white-tail deer, wild turkey, raccoon, opossum, fox, skunk, squirrel, and numerous species of birds.

Botanists, horticulturists, college students, youth groups, solitary nature lovers, and people of all ages are all attracted to this beautiful and fascinating place. No matter how you walk along the trails – whether carefully, with the attentive eye of a scientist, or at full tilt with the carefree heart of a child – the Louisiana State Arboretum promises to be a memorable experience. Enjoy and please remember — take only pictures, leave only footprints.

Louisiana State Arboretum State Preservation Area

The park covers over 6,400 acres of rolling hills and water in South Central Louisiana. The cool, clear waters of Lake Chicot have yielded record freshwater catches of largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and red-ear sunfish. Fishermen will enjoy the convenient boathouse, three boat launches and boat rental facilities.

An extensive hiking/backpacking trail completely encircles Lake Chicot and includes several primitive campsites along the way. The hiking trails allow visitors to experience and enjoy the park's natural landscape, its bottomland hardwood forest and the lake itself. For visitors who enjoy a quicker pace, much of the trail is geared toward mountain bikers, and all cyclists are welcome to ride the roadways throughout the park.

The South Landing includes cabins, a group camp, picnic areas and playground, a water playground, a boat launch, a fishing pier and a dock with rental boats. A scenic road links the South Landing with the North Landing.

The North Landing features campsites, a boat launch, a dock, a 400 ft. fishing pier and a primitive group-camping area. Lodges also are located in this area.

The East Landing is accessible from LA 106. It is less developed than the other two areas. It includes a boat launch, a dock, a meeting room and a barbeque pavilion, which makes this area ideal for day visitors.

The Louisiana State Arboretum, located within Chicot State Park, is home to a magnificent mature beech-magnolia forest and features an outdoor classroom and several miles of nature trails with labeled plant life native to Louisiana.

Chicot State Park

After the Battle of Mansfield, halting the Union advance to the West in Spring of 1864, Forts Randolph and Buhlow were constructed on the Red River at Alexandria by Confederates in order to repel future Union attacks through Northwest Louisiana. Construction, completed by March 1865, was under the command of Cpt. Christopher M. Randolph and supervised by a military engineer, Lt. Alphonse Buhlow, for whom the forts are named. A third and larger fort, planned for the Alexandria side of the river, was never built.

The earthen forts, constructed using local plantation slave labor, were fortified with cannon and over 800 soldiers. In addition to a Confederate troop buildup in the Alexandria area, the Confederate ironclad Missouri was anchored in the river opposite Fort Randolph, but the anticipated attack never came and no fighting over took place. In May of 1865, the Confederates surrendered to Union forces, and the forts where occupied for a short while by the Union before being abandoned at the end of the war.

Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site also includes the remains of Bailey’s Dam. Bailey’s Dam, remarkable for its design and the amount of time required in constructing it, allowed for the Union Fleet, under the command of Admiral David Porter, to escape below the rapids on the Red River at Alexandria during the Union retreat after the battle of Mansfield. Called “one of the greatest engineering feats of the Civil War,” The dam designed by Colonel Joseph Bailey has left a lasting mark on the history of the region. The site is today commemorated with interpretive signage and a scenic overlook of the Red River.

Located on Red River in downtown Pineville, the site includes a visitor center with exhibits on the Civil War Red River Campaign, an elevated boardwalk around the fort area, with an overlook near Bailey's Dam site, and an open field for Civil War re-enactments. Forts Randolph & Buhlow were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site

Kent Plantation House State Historic Site turns back the clock to circa 1800, when Pierre Baillio II commissioned the construction of a simple six-bedroom home on the banks of Bayou Rapides. Located in what today is the central Louisiana hub of Alexandria, it’s a testament to how sugar barons lived over 300 years ago. King Charles IV of Spain granted Baillio approximately 500 acres of land in 1795, and the planter soon set to making a profit from it. The home, made with local materials found in the Alexandria area (including cypress for roofbeams and clay for bricks), was built on brick piers to protect it from flood waters. Its simple Creole style architecture was typical of the period. Baillio’s heirs sold the property in 1842 to a wealthy planter named Robert C. Hynson from Kent County, Maryland. He named the plantation after his homeland and began updating architectural details to match the Greek Revival style that was popular for the period, as well as greatly expanding the house itself. Today visitors can view the handiwork that Baillio and Hynson oversaw. Tour outbuildings that include a working sugar house, the only one of its kind known to exist, and open for sugar-making demonstrations during the fall harvest season. Visit the slave quarters for a glimpse into how Kent Plantation House’s workers endured harsh conditions, and the specialized Milk House used for dairy preparation. In the Big House, you’ll find finely adorned rooms that include a ladies’ parlor, where women of means once sipped tea, and a library reserved for entertaining gentlemen guests. The main bedroom and children’s bedroom are also on display, as well as the “stranger’s room,” quarters reserved for unknown guests who were passing through the region. During your visit to the Alexandria area, check out the Alexandria Zoological Park, as well as nearby Arna Wendell Bontemps Museum and the Louisiana History Museum. Get some sun at Chicot State Park and South Toledo Bend State Park, and for insight into Louisiana’s military history, check out Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site, and Louisiana Maneuvers and Military Museum.

Kent Plantation House State Historic Site

Rosedown Plantation is located in the West Feliciana Parish community of St. Francisville along one of the most historic corridors in South Louisiana. The historic presence of the River created deep soil deposits to form uplands that became, in the days of the cotton boom, extremely productive and valuable. In addition to the natural flats, creeks draining to the River created some expanses of rugged, heavily treed terrain that became profitable as timberland.

The parents of Daniel and Martha (Barrow) Turnbull achieved high social status in West Feliciana through their immense cotton operations, and Daniel Turnbull himself was known before the Civil War as one of the richest men in the nation. The land that became Rosedown Plantation, named for a play that the Turnbulls saw on their honeymoon, was assembled not by the then-usual method of Spanish Land Grants, but in a group of seven purchases made by Daniel Turnbull from the 1820s through the 1840s. At its largest, Rosedown Plantation comprised approximately 3,455 acres, the majority of which was planted in cotton.

Daniel and Martha Turnbull began construction on the main house at Rosedown in 1834, completing it by May the following year. The home was furnished with the finest pieces available, most imported from the North and from Europe. A surprising amount of the furnishings purchased by the Turnbulls remained with the house during the years after the Civil War and many original pieces are still on display at Rosedown.

The gardens were the province of Martha Turnbull throughout her life. The Turnbulls’ honeymoon in Europe included great formal gardens of France and Italy, an influence seen in Martha's activities at Rosedown. The gardens grew out from the house over a span of many decades, to cover approximately 28 acres. In the 19th century, Rosedown was one of the few privately maintained formal gardens in the United States.

The contribution of slave labor to the construction and upkeep of the plantation, as well as agricultural prosperity and wealth accrued by Daniel Turnbull, was immense. During peak years of cotton production, operation of Rosedown utilized as many as 450 slaves.

In the 1950s, Turnbull family members decided to try to sell the old plantation whole. In 1956, Catherine Fondren Underwood, herself an enthusiastic amateur horticulturalist, purchased it and began an eight-year historic restoration of the house and formal gardens.

The emphasis on restoration rather than renovation was applied to the formal gardens as well, which were reconstructed by Ralph Ellis Gunn using Martha Turnbull’s extensive garden diaries. When possible, the same species and varieties were replanted. When plants in Martha’s inventory were discovered to be no longer available, the staff of gardeners would propagate them from plant stock surviving in the gardens. Through this process, the gardens, as well as the house, were returned to their original state.

Currently, the main house, historic gardens and 13 historic buildings and 371 remaining acres of Rosedown Plantation are preserved as a state historic site by the Office of State Parks. State Parks staff and volunteers work to conserve and maintain the site, conducting tours and programs to illustrate plantation life in the 1800s. In 2005, Rosedown Plantation was placed on the National Listing of Historic Landmarks.

Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site

The cemeteries of Louisiana are a significant part of the state's history. They tell the story of those who laid the foundation for Louisiana as it exists today. A visit to Locust Grove State Historic Site provides an illustration of the small family cemeteries which were a part of most plantations. Several generations of family members are buried here. Strolling through the historic graves encourages reflection on the courage, determination and dedication of the early settlers in Louisiana.

The small site at Locust Grove, with only 27 plots, represents an era in Louisiana's romantic history. The cemetery is all that remains of what was once Locust Grove Plantation, owned by the family of Jefferson Davis' sister, Anna E. Davis Smith. In the summer of 1835, the future Confederate president brought Sarah Knox Taylor Davis, his wife of only three months, to the plantation for a visit. Both contracted malaria, and Mrs. Davis, the daughter of General Zachary Taylor, died at the age of 21. Her grave is situated among those of the other Davis family members.

Several times a year, special events and programs take place at Locust Grove, such as grave-rubbing demonstrations and instruction, sure to be enjoyed by genealogists and preservationists.

Marksville State Historic Site Maps

Marksville, LA

Marksville State Historic Site Description

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Nearby
Parks

State Parks near Marksville State Historic Site