Ferdinand St.

LA 10

HWY 965

HWY 66

HWY 61

HW

Y 61

Commerce St.

Highland Rd.

Sligo Rd.

When flamboyant artist-

naturalist John James

Audubon arrived in the

St. Francisville area in

1821, he said the rich

lushness of the landscape and flourishing birdlife

“all excited my admiration.” Having set for him-

self the staggering task of painting all the birds of

this immense fledgling country, Audubon found

the inspiration for dozens of them while residing at

Oakley Plantation. Both he and wife Lucy tutored

area plantation children to fund publication of his

Birds of America.

In celebration of Audubon’s stay, the West Feliciana

Historical Society’s annual pilgrimage has since

1972 permitted privileged visitors an intimate

glimpse of Audubon’s scenic, unspoiled Happyland.

45th ANNUAL AUDUBON PILGRIMAGE

John James Audubon

ROSEDOWN, State Historic Site, was built in 1834 by Daniel Turnbull and his wife Martha Barrow, who on their European wedding trip gleaned the inspi-ration for the 27 acres of formal gardens surrounding the stately, double-galleried house. Approached by a magnificent allee of enormous live oaks, Rosedown is now a National Historic Landmark.

ROSALE PLANTATION was part of early

settler Alexander Stirling’s enormous 1790s landhold-

ings; when the elaborate brick house his daughter Ann

Skillman built in 1836 burned in the 1880s, the family

moved into the two-story schoolhouse, built the same

time. Today the simple farmhouse with sweeping vistas

of manicured oak-shaded lawns and ponds is owned by

Peter and Lynda Truitt.

VINCI COTTAGE AT VIRGINIA, all

of 1000 feet, was built in the forties of materials

salvaged from 1817 Virginia’s detached kitchen and

quarters, perfect for Nancy Vinci’s downsizing with

dog! Supplementing the tiny

lawn here, just across Royal

St. is WOODLEIGH GARDEN, beautifully land-

scaped hillside setting filled by

owners Leigh Anne and Butch

Jones with heirloom pass-along

plantings.

THE CABILDO, built c. 1809 with handhewn

joists and 22” brick walls, is a Spanish colonial

structure used over the years as monastery, tavern

frequented by Audubon, bank, West Feliciana’s

first parish courthouse beginning in 1824, barber-

shop, grocery, hotel, drugstore, library, and beauti-

fully restored present residence of Peggy and Joey

Gammill, preservation/construction experts.

AFTON VILLA GARDENS, approached by a serpentine avenue of live oaks underplanted with azaleas, surround the romantic ruins of the Gothic Revival mansion which burned in 1963. Formal parterres and terraced vistas comprise landscaped acres. Restored by Genevieve Trimble and her husband, the late Morrell Trimble.

OAKLEY, since 1947 the centerpiece of Audubon State Historic Site, is a splendid early 19th-century three-story structure exhibiting

West Indies influences like its jalousied galleries. Here John James Audubon in 1821 tutored the beautiful young daughter of the Pirrie family, with his afternoons free to roam the woods and collect bird specimens to paint.

To Baton Rouge

Oakley

Market Hall

Mt. CarMel CatHOliC CHurCH

GraCe CHurCH

MuseuM

(TickeTs)

aftOn Villa Gardens

MetHOdist CHurCH

VinCi COttaGe

Royal St.

teMple sinai

St. Mary’s

tHe Myrtles

To Natchez

To Angola

THE MYRTLES, a raised English cottage begun

in the late 1790s by Judge David Bradford, leader of the

Whiskey Rebellion, was enlarged throughout the 19th

century. The long front gallery is graced with grape-

cluster wrought iron, and inside rooms are formalized

with elaborate plaster friezework and marble mantels in

the twin parlors. John E. and Teeta Moss are the cur-

rent owners.

tHe CabildO

rOsedOwn

rural HOMestead

rOsale

wOOdleiGH Garden

TOUR INFORMATIONDaytime Tours • $359:30 am - 5:00 pm (Sunday private homes are open 11 am - 4 pm) (good for all three days) Includes all of the following:• Four Private Homes & Two Private Gardens• Oakley House, Audubon State Historic Site• Rosedown Plantation, State Historic Site• Afton Villa Gardens• 19th Century Churches• Recreated Working Rural Homestead• Authentic 1820's Costumes• Costumed Children Dancing• Audubon Play

Friday Night Entertainment • $20 6:00 pm - 9:00 pmIncludes the following: • Cemetery Tour - (last tour starts at 8:15 pm) Grace Church• Robust Hymn Singing - United Methodist Church• Wine & Cheese Reception - (reception starts at 7 pm) Bishop Jackson Hall • Period Costumes & Vintage Dancers Bishop Jackson Hall• Audubon Play - Temple Sinai Art Show - Market Hall• Royal Street by Candlelight

Saturday Night Entertainment • $507:00 pm - Light Up the Night, Soiree Live Music, Fine Food, Drinks, and Dancing

All Inclusive Package available • $100 ($5 savings!) See website for details

Advanced tickets can be purchased online atwestfelicianahistoricalsociety.org

Historical Society Museum11757 Ferdinand StreetSt. Francisville, LA 70775 • (225) 635-6330 Call for special group tour rates

RURAL HOMESTEAD To visit the Rural Homestead is to experience the lifestyle of rural southerners in the 1820’s. Native materials, hand-hewn cypress shingles and ancient timbers present a faithful recreation of what “home” meant to the plain folk of the nineteenth century South. Throughout the Homestead, local volunteers demonstrate the skills they learned first-hand grow-ing up in rural West Feliciana: open hearth and wood stove cookery, basket weaving, quilting, cotton carding and spinning, while the grist mill grinds out cornmeal. Shingles are rived and ground is broken by mule and plow, all to the sound of home-grown music makers - a happy “frolic” from an earlier day.

CHURCHES

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL on Catholic Hill was built in 1893from plans drawn by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. For the first time since the days of Spanish rule, Roman Catholic faithful would have a resident priest.

45th ANNUAL

AUDUBON PILGRIMAGE 2016

The present UNITED METHODIST CHURCH on Royal Street replaced

the flood-damaged church built in Bayou Sara in 1844. The original

bell was retained and sum-mons the faithful today.

GRACE EPISCOPAL was established in 1827 when the

newly ordained W.R. Bowman came to visit his sister Mary Stirling and found a waiting flock. The present church was completed in time for Easter Day 1860. Severely damaged in the Civil War by gunboats, it was not consecrated until 1891.

Tour of Historic Homes, Churches & Gardens

Authentic 1820's CostumesLiving History Demonstrations

Night Festivities & Cemetery Tales

AUDUBONPILGRIMAGE

March 18, 19 & 20, 2016

ROYAL STREET, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, by day offers costumed children dancing the Maypole and playing nostalgicsinging games. By candlelight on Friday, enjoy hymn singing in the United Methodist Church and Graveyard Tales in Grace Churchyard. The evening ends with Wine & Cheese at Bishop Jackson Hall featuring period costumes and musical enter-tainment.

ST. MARY’S CHURCH was built in 1857 to serve the antebellum plantation community around Weyanoke. Deconsecrated in 1947, the haunting beauty of this Gothic Revival brick chapel , an austerely elegant setting for weddings and funerals even when emptied of its pews, has fueled ongoing enthusiasm for its preservation.

COSTUMES worn by Pilgrimage workers reflect the authentic dress of the 1820’s and received national recognition from the American Association of State and Local History.

westfelicianahistoricalsociety.org