Woodland Plantation, depicted in the Currier & Ives lithograph, "A Home on the Mississippi"
This image has appeared on the label of Southern Comfort whiskey since 1934.
Woodland Plantation
Plaquemines Parish, LA
The iconic image of Woodland Plantation above was first created by Alfred Waud in 1871, and was
later made into a lithograph by Currier & Ives.  In 1934, the image was licensed to the makers
of Southern Comfort whiskey and has been gracing the bottles of that product ever since.
Woodland Plantation, 2010
Captains William Johnson and George Bradish came to Louisiana from Nova Scotia in the
late 1700's.  In 1795, they constructed a home called Magnolia Plantation, four miles from
where Woodland now stands.  Both families lived at Magnolia for forty years or so.  In the late
1830's, Captain Johnson sold his interest in Magnolia and started construction of Woodland.
But the captain's home wasn't the first structure on this property.  At the same time Magnolia
was constructed, buildings were erected on what would become the site of Woodland.  These
buildings were used as holding facilities for the slaves the captains traded, because, in addition
to managing their sugar plantation, the two captains were in partnership with pirate, Jean Lafitte.
From Woodland's website:  "Lafitte would pirate ships offshore, bring the slaves up Grand Bayou
and hold them at four large buildings [on what would become the Woodland site].  From there,
Captains Johnson and Bradish would pick up the slaves and trade them up and down the river.
Spirits Hall [a church moved from Homeplace, LA to Woodland Plantation in
1998] now sits on the site [of those buildings] that had seen all of this pain
and suffering.  We felt that this had a healing effect on the property."
Spirits Hall, 2010 - formerly St. Patrick's Catholic Church, built 1880's
A sugar kettle sits in front of a former slave cabin,
Woodland Plantation, 2010.
Woodland was sold after Capt. Johnson's son, Bradish, died in 1897.  It remained in the same
family for the next 100 years.  When the Creppel family - Jacques, Claire and son, Foster -
purchased the property in 1997, it was in bad shape.  They spent the better part of two years
renovating the historic home and, in 1999, opened it as a beautifully restored country inn.
Woodland Plantation - with inset showing condition of home prior to renovation.