As a black person, I think it was a beautiful place. My race doesn't dictate what I find appealing. Beauty is totally subjective. The architecture was stunning plus I love old mansions/buildings. I would ike to see a computer generated 3D model of how the place looked esp on the inside since there are building plans out there to reference. I also won't gloss over the fact that it represented a terrible history of slavery like all slave holding plantations. I'm sitting on the other side of it all, too. I would imagine to slaves living there or slaves anywhere for that matter, the beauty of the "big house" was overshadowed by the ugliness of being held against their will and forced to work. I have no idea how the owners treated their slaves but it doesn't matter. Just to have slaves is disgusting, imo. Anyway, now it's gone. Wasn't meant to be here. I wouldn't be surprised if a black person connected to the place through relations or not at all, set the fire. Only God knows. It is what it is and so we move on.

@TheCarnivalguy

3 жыл бұрын

Beautifully stated. Thanks for your thoughts.

@shonDonFH

Жыл бұрын

No black person would say that but ok

@j.j460

Жыл бұрын

@@shonDonFH I knew a huge black guy around 500lbs I'd say almost 7ft tall..He come in the bar wearing a black shirt with a big red Swastika on it..And a full patched Pagan 1% MC denim vest..I bet you can't even find a picture of a black Pagan..I never seen the guy since..

@j.j460

Жыл бұрын

I should of got a picture with him..

@cindyrenfroe5212

Жыл бұрын

Belle Grove plantation was used in the movie band of angels with Clark Gable and Sidney Poitier ,,,these old mansions were beautiful inside and out and the tall pretty trees ,,,but the history that is with them breaks my heart ,,,the slavery and how they were treated was so very wrong ,,, we were all created by God and the bible said God is not partial as he created Evey race and we should not be prejudice and to love one another ,,,but there is so much hate in the world and problems today that it will take an act of God to make things right ,,,so we are living in the last days of this old wicked system and ,,soon the earth will be transformed into a paradise ,,, it's in the bible book of revelation ,,praise God

I first learned about Belle Grove at an exhibition of photographs at the Fine Arts Museum at Indiana University in the 1980s. There were many photos of Belle Grove mansion and I've been fascinated by this house ever since. The photos here show us the house from several directions though part of the house had already collapsed. I think another video shows an older photo while that part was intact, to the right of what might be called the side portico in relation to the road.(Unclear what was the front or main entrance of the mansion or f there were more than one.) I think there had been a turret with where the curving staircase was located. I've never seen photographs showing all of the back of the house but maybe something will turn up. Possibly already available somewhere on the internet but I would very much like to see architect's drawings of Belle Grove mansion from all four sides so we can get still more of an understanding of this remarkable house or maybe someone going by the existing documentation can recreate what the house looked like in its entirety. I've seen a blueprint of the upstairs and just the arrangement of rooms was impressive. I'm glad that one of the most impressive houses in the United States was photographed so much and from different angles. It may not be well-known among people interested in Belle Grove mansion so I'll mention that the house was pink. It's shown in a color photo in a 1952 issue of LIFE magazine, The photo was taken shortly before the fire that destroyed much of the house which was then demolished.---Thank you for sharing these great pictures of Belle Grove mansion.

What a spectacular loss. I especially like the first photo, as the people standing on top of that rounded bay give a sense of the enormous scale of this house.

Too bad the state didn't take it over.Would have been a great tourist attraction once restored.

@ReelNostalgia

8 жыл бұрын

+Mascendera Yeah I certainly agree - lots of historic old homes have been lost to neglect.

@crowleysridgegirl

6 жыл бұрын

It burned then it had to be demolished.

The plantation system in the South was really very short-lived, about 1820 to 1860 and tied mainly to cotton. A tremendous amount of money moved through the system, but very little true wealth accumulated. It ran on credit by borrowing against the next cotton crop. The British were the main financiers because they needed vast amounts of raw cotton for their textile industry. The South rushed into the Civil War because of fear that Lincoln would end slavery. The planters were deep in debt for slaves, the price of which had run up on speculation that having more slaves meant you could grow more cotton, take out bigger loans, grow more cotton, and on and own. The whole thing was built on debt and that seldom ends well: The Depression, The Great Recession being just two examples. It was all a "get-rich quick" house of cards pretty much like America today, about 35 trillion in debt.

@CoyoteCoop

Жыл бұрын

You're right on, and that is probably how this house was abandoned, but it was a Sugarcane plantation and was too far south to grow cotton, I live north of Iberville Parish, and it is still too far south to grow cotton, only sugar and indigo.

Belle Grove was not "one of the largest" plantation mansions built, it was the largest! Known as "Queen of The South" Belle Grove was envied and loved as the most spectacular plantation mansion ever to exist.

How sad that such a place was demolished the south has such rich history

if you can find a picture of it, the double parlor at Evergreen house in baltimore (Formerly Evergreen Plantation) is a replica of the "Long Room" at Belle Grove. its a stunning room and what a shame the original had to be demolished

If this was restored it would be so grand.

@JoannaWagnerClaireSangre

5 жыл бұрын

It deserves to be a pile of ruble. A suitable monument to the people and society that thrived on the suffering of millions. That without considering the genocide of the people of the First Nations.

@connorpusey5912

4 жыл бұрын

Joanna Wagner oh shut up, it was a grand home and part of history and we don’t care. Enough with peoples feelings.

@connorpusey5912

4 жыл бұрын

The home should be rebuilt on the sight it once stood. It would outshine every plantation mansion in the Deep South, as it once did.

so beautiful. so sad it is gone

Not mansions fault,what happened there! Beautiful craftsmanship.We don't appreciate that in US.

It is one thing the United sates will not do is to keep and maintain some old mansion for posterity. If the building id problematic- no matter what the history we will tear it down.

Life magazine featured a full color centerfold of the house shortly before it burned.. Can any body upload it, or even date it?

@joeconrad9147

3 жыл бұрын

Another stone building ..burns

crying shame another part of American history went down the drain.

@Daviemes13

6 жыл бұрын

Yes it is a crying shame but on the other hand what you haven't noticed is the fact that every historical site that we call historical are now in the hands of some governmental agency to which you and I are now being taxed to death for it's upkeep and care. Now think about just how many we are taking care of out of our paycheck taxes every year that have been turned over to some historical trust and the word "trust" meaning a governmental agency of a sort. Now if they are kept in private ownership like Nottoway Plantation and run as a business that is another thing all together. They don't place a burden on the tax payers. If you checked into it, it would make your blood boil at just how much your being taxed for all these places we should not be taxed for.

@nuknuknuk111

6 жыл бұрын

1Pen naw too much horror probably went on at this place

@lilolmejusayin8671

5 жыл бұрын

You don’t know that. The voyage was a horror too. Trace back how that happened. Manipulated history. slavenorth.com/profits.htm

@ednakelley814

4 жыл бұрын

@@nuknuknuk111 yeah, deleting history so future generations can't learn from it is always a smart idea. Lets start burning history text books too using your same logic.

Why are there no pictures of the inside of Bell Grove?

Almost none of the newspaper clippings featured in the video are about the Belle Grove plantation in the video. Most of them are about different places also named Belle Grove in different parts of Louisiana; one near New Orleans in Kenner; the other near Houma. The Belle Grove in the video was near White Castle, La. Including the clippings is at best sloppy, and at worst deliberately misleading.

It's too bad that such ugly things happened on such beautiful landscapes.

@connorpusey5912

4 жыл бұрын

How do you know how the slaves were treated? Not all of them were mistreated the way the media portrays. Not excusing slavery, just saying, we don’t know if their practices towards them were “ugly” or not.

@JSRene-gb7lt

3 жыл бұрын

@@connorpusey5912 LOL, silly. You know the line that says, "No disrespect.......BUT", slavery was kind of bad, but not really. It was ok for some people. The logic is similar if you live in a house with your 5 siblings and your Uncle molested 3 of yall. Well Uncle wasnt that bad, he only molested 3 of us???? well here you go. NOTHING ABOUT SLAVERY IS "OK or Nice, or palpable".

@JSRene-gb7lt

3 жыл бұрын

Sad but true statement.

@connorpusey5912

3 жыл бұрын

@@JSRene-gb7lt I literally said that I was not excusing the practice of slavery. I just said that it wasn’t as monstrous as modern media makes it out to have been. Many slave owners did try to be humane as possible within the obvious confines of owning slaves in the first place. My point was that you can’t automatically assume that “ugly” things occurred at the plantation house. If by definition they consider slavery to be instantaneously ugly regardless of treatment then it’s understandable.

@jenniferjones5771

Жыл бұрын

@@connorpusey5912 What good things could have come from being a slave? Do you realize some of the horrific things that went along with slavery? Of course you don;t because noone wants to talk about it and tell the REAL story of slavery.. like the rapes of little girls and boys.. using black babies as alligator bait, breeding farms and lynchings. Don't be fooled by the lies. slavery was a brutal practice by brutal people no matter how you dress it up or how beautiful those houses were. THERE WERE NO GOOD SLAVE OWNERS

What a beautiful house why has it not been preserved.?

@jomama5186

3 жыл бұрын

Idk why each state doesnt have a fund set aside for historical buildings. It is such a terrible shame :(

@sedge5940

2 жыл бұрын

It burned in 1952

Rest in Peace beautiful queen

What a pity it was demolished in 1952. It was a very beautiful plantation.

@henryphilipvige777

2 жыл бұрын

It was set on fire by an arsonist.

what a shame such a beautiful structure

Legends notwithstanding: the house was abandoned after the1927 floods which left it unstable and uninhabitable. My grandfather and uncle lost their lives getting my mother and her sisters out from the third floor. There was no money to restore the house, and so it was left until someone could come up with the funds to do so. No one ever did, despite several buyers with good intentions. I'm glad that so many people view it as an icon, but PLEASE don't think of Belle Grove or it's people as anything more than a sign of times gone by. The man who set fire to it may have done us all a kindness. Could we not move on?

@alexandersalter6686

6 жыл бұрын

What good came out of destroying such heavenly beauty?

@raven113p6

6 жыл бұрын

@bud turner. Really? You can’t burn evil away...the ghosts of slaves are still there...

@tannerrutland2730

5 жыл бұрын

@@raven113p6 oh quit spewing the same old shit

@rhodesmurphy8788

4 жыл бұрын

I would love to hear more of this story.

@ehta01

4 жыл бұрын

@@rhodesmurphy8788 There's not much more to tell. The house sat vacant until someone burned it in 1952-or-3, and the ruins stood until the early 1970's, when it was bulldozed for a subdivision. I've seen several comments that it was demolished in 1952, but I remember my mother taking me to see the ruins when I was around 10 years old, which would have been c.1962. But just think of the horror movies that could have been filmed there :)

Wish it was still with us..Restored...

You would think that a house built like this would last longer than 100 years.

@ariesqueen8364

4 жыл бұрын

When the foundation is rotten, the house cannot stand.

@JSRene-gb7lt

3 жыл бұрын

@@ariesqueen8364 literally & metaphorically.

WHYYY did they tear it down ??!!

@crowleysridgegirl

6 жыл бұрын

It burned after sitting empty and deteriorating for many years.

@XenaBe25

5 жыл бұрын

Even if it hadn't burned, the pics here show show some bad rot. Parts of the second story were falling all over the yard. It wasn't safe. Most places have blight laws that demand a crumbling mess like that be torn down and removed.

Perhaps just me, but no explanation? Folklore? Silent vid. Yawn

It’s unfortunate that a beautiful building like this was lost, but simultaneously it being lost takes the darkness it had with its past with it

@carsonfoard7020

2 жыл бұрын

In that case, all of historic Rome should disappear.

@johnharris8191

7 ай бұрын

Yes, it is really too bad that African kings sold their own people into slavery and it continues today.

So if this gorgeous old plantation mansion was torn down in 1952, then what the heck is the modern "Belle Grove Plantation" with a bed and breakfast being operated today????

@alexandersalter6686

2 жыл бұрын

There is another plantation called Belle Grove (I think in Virginia). Do you mean that one?

@sedge5940

2 жыл бұрын

It burned down in 1952. There are other places called Belle Grove.

@venetiahuffman8561

7 ай бұрын

There is Belle Grove plantation in Virginia which was James Madison's childhood home. I have visited there.

@WWZenaDo

7 ай бұрын

@@alexandersalter6686 Whatever the video is referring to....

@WWZenaDo

7 ай бұрын

@@sedge5940 Thanks, that explains it.

Them white folks lived like gods and kings off our backs why cant we love 1 another so we can change the world afro Mexican.afro Brazilians.we are all 1 i cant name us all but yall know lets work this out

@joeconrad9147

3 жыл бұрын

Your people were here before the white man, history has been so twisted ..you can thank hollywood for filling our heads full of bs

I'm from SW Louisiana. I'm looking for part of a legend told of a plantation that sat in the swamps between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans. In the mid 1800s it was abandoned. Story is ya can gear and see the little 5 yrs old girl running in terror on the south balcony. The family, the slaves the livestock we're all brutally murdered in just one night. Not sure if it is true but looking for remnants of the property and plantation on Google maps isn't easy

@ehta01

6 жыл бұрын

Sounds like that could be Ashland Plantation, also known as Belle Helene, renamed by the last owner. It's in Ascencion Parish, and not actually in a swamp but just very overgrown, or was. The movie "Band of Angels" with Yvonne de Carlo and (I think) Clark Gable was filmed there in the '40's. Or maybe it's not that one at all, but that's my best guess :) I think the story of the murders is a legend - I've never heard anything like that.

@alexandersalter6686

5 жыл бұрын

bud turner You’re right, Clark Gable was in “Band if Angels”. The Ashland Plantation was also used for “The Beguiled” (the original, not the remake), which starred Clint Eastwood.

@dotsyjmaher

9 ай бұрын

There is a little girl at "Laura" in St.Francisville... And a little girl at "The Lalaurie Mansion" in New Orleans...haven't heard of all livestock killed anywhere.

They sure had a lot of bad happening there. It's a shame the house was torn down. Sounds like it was cursed though

The Haunted mansion from Disney!........

@orleanslouisian3886

5 жыл бұрын

It was Also the house used in mafia 3 It's abandoned just like it's real life counterpart Nottoway plantation was used for left 4 dead 2 And is abandoned and overrun by zombies And oak alley plantation was used for the recent red dead redemption 2 And is burned down by yankee cowboys The entertainment industry just loves destroying the souths majestic homes

All the Chatagnier family died of yellow fever.

Really torn on the issue of Southern Plantations and enslaved people. The beauty of the architecture but the ugliness of how it was achieved

I bet they had a slew of slaves. If only the walls could talk. This beast was built off the sweat of black lives.

@Daviemes13

6 жыл бұрын

They had over four hundred slaves on this plantation alone along with Nottaway. Yet slavery was on it's way out no matter how much the many southern plantations wanted to deny it. Modern machinery was well on it's way and it would do away with slave ownership. I'd say within 15 to 20 years slave ownership would have been useless to the plantations except in the way of servants in the house and that too would have went away also as it did in the north.

@conniecrawford6429

6 жыл бұрын

Trina Blair oh please, how the hell do you know..Can you give me facts? Just like the left, they start rumors and don't even know if it's true and they believe their own lies....

@charminrodgers2855

6 жыл бұрын

Connie Crawford please shut up because she said nothing wrong I bet they did have a slew of slaves a plantation that big had A SLEW of SLAVES they sure was getting off they AnnAbelle asses taking care of anything.

@conniecrawford6429

6 жыл бұрын

Charmin Rodgers Just because you dont like someone's opinion you tell them to shut up. But, you are assuming they had a slew of slaves. Maybe they did. I'm used to facts.

@charminrodgers2855

6 жыл бұрын

Connie Crawford Really did you now? You must not know your History then.

They rot because of the evil that is inherent in their foundations.

@lindanwfirefighter4973

7 жыл бұрын

Buster Townsend that's sillyness. Not all plantations had evil owners!

@imreal1910

7 жыл бұрын

Richard clarke they should not had owners at all😕

@NisahPooh

6 жыл бұрын

Exactly

@faithismine128

6 жыл бұрын

Then every damn building in DC should have fallen to the ground.

@nuknuknuk111

6 жыл бұрын

Richard clarke just because the owners weren't evil it still doesn't make it right

Demolished??? What good news!

@yaelrar.4460

6 жыл бұрын

Anínesah Rodriguez Nonsense. Its a testimony to history. Plus the architecture is exceptional.

@alexandersalter6686

6 жыл бұрын

It’s not good whatsoever! It’s not news either since it was demolished over 50 years ago... That house was truly one of a kind, houses like this should be preserved at all costs.

@tammywenzel66

5 жыл бұрын

You all who say good news she was destroyed, are all fools. Every thing is racist to people now a days. Get off your high horses and put your adult panties on.

@dotsyjmaher

9 ай бұрын

IGNORANT.....WHAT....PRAY TELL ..are YOU doing about slavery today...? It is EVERYWHERE.... you sanctimonious bleeding hearts NEVER DO ANYTHING IN YOUR OWN TIME....