Destrehan Plantation is only 15 minutes away from Jefferson Parish and 10 minutes away from the New Orleans International Airport. Established in 1787 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Destrehan Plantation remains the oldest documented plantation home in the lower Mississippi Valley. It is an antebellum mansion, in the French Colonial style, modified with Greek Revival architectural elements. During the 19th century, the plantation was a major producer of indigo and then sugarcane. We invite you to travel from the French and Spanish Colonial periods, through the antebellum grandeur of the sugar barons, to the ravages of the Civil War and the rebirth of reconstruction. You will find yourself immersed in the rich history of Louisiana when French was the language, and the white gold of sugar drove the economy. Family stories of those free and enslaved set against the fabric of history will intrigue every visitor to the site.