For Public Review: Great River Road Historic Context Study Draft (May 2024)

The NPS commissioned HHM & Associates to conduct a study documenting an eleven-mile stretch of the Great River Road in narrative and graphic formats and placing it into a regional and national context. The effort involves research, a field survey, photographic documentation, and Geographic Information Systems analysis. The NPS hopes the information contained in the study will enable stewards, policy makers, and the public to better understand the corridor and take appropriate action where necessary.

The key finding of the draft study is that the Great River Road area is a good candidate for National Historic Landmark consideration. Resources within the study area illustrate nationally significant history, including:

• The unique settlement patterns and architecture established during the period of French settlement 1718-1803 with the introduction and maintenance of the arpent system and visibility of historic concession boundaries in the landscape as well as persistence of Creole forms and practices of architecture and building.
• The importance of the district's sugar production to the national economy, especially in the Reconstruction Era.
• The unique transition of enslaved laborers to wage laborer and landholders in the Reconstruction Era and into the twentieth century, illustrating an alternative narrative to the stories of the Great Migration and sharecropping.
• The exceptional ethnic heritage forged by the families that chose to live in this district for generations - creating distinct and nationally influential cultural practices relevant to architecture, craft, music, and foodways.
• The exceptional integrity of the agricultural landscape—having grown sugar in the same location and using many of the same methods and structures for nearly 300 years—creating a rare and unique setting and sense of the feeling of living and working in the plantation system in the American South.

NPS welcomes public comments on the draft Great River Road Historic Context Study prior to finalizing the report later this year.

Topic Questions:

1. The scope of work for this study did not include extensive fieldwork. Are you aware of any buildings, structures, or sites in the project area that the windshield and desktop survey missed? If so, please provide locations and any known information about the resource type and construction date.

2. Do you have any documentation about specific resources that could help supplement the preliminary desktop and windshield survey? Especially helpful information would include construction dates, major alteration dates, and/or historic photos of buildings.

3. While the resources included above are tangible, the values that inform the heritage throughout the study area are intangible. Does the study sufficiently recognize the area's traditional cultural practices? What else should be considered?

4. Do you agree with the study's findings? Why or why not?

5. Please record any other comments you have on this project.

Document Content:

2024-05-03_GRR-Historic-ContextHRSR_DRAFT.pdf   (152.2 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.