Throughout the years men from elsewhere have come to West Feliciana. Their reasons for coming were as varied as the houses they built; homes that can be seen as monuments to the lives they made for themselves here.
The cluster of notable 19th-century gardens in West Feliciana are outstanding examples of what unlimited time, wealth, labor, and horticultural knowledge, combined with the rich loess soil and a happy climate, could produce in antebellum culture. These gardens remain monuments to past glories and to the hardiness of plantings.
Select antiques dealers will be housed in three locations in the historic district: Feliciana Masonic Lodge on Proserity, Market Hall on Royal Street, and Jackson Hall on Ferdinand Street.
The annual Audubon Pilgrimage celebrates a southern spring in St. Francisville, the glorious garden spot of Louisiana's English Plantation country. For four decades the sponsoring West Feliciana Historical Society, its docents resplendent in authentic 1820's costumes, has thrown open the doors of significant historic structures to commenmorate the tenure there of artist-naturalist John James Audubon as he painted a number of his famous bird folios.
This year's pligrimage will have even more to celebrate, as 2010 marks the bicentennial of the West Florida Rebellion which united the Anglo-American pioneers in ousting a corrupt Spanish regime which persisted in claiming this territory on the east side of the Mississippi River even after the Louisiana Purchase; the resultant West Florida Republic, which lasted for a heady 74 days, had its capital in St. Francisville.
John J Audubon
John James Audubon, volatile Frenchman, talented artist, unkempt wanderer, and trying husband, set himself the task of painting all the Birds of America. He was West Feliciana Parish’s most famous visitor, and it is to him that the Audubon Pilgrimages are dedicated.
A high-end antiques show and sale will be featured again on this year's tour. Select antiques dealers will be housed in three locations in the historic district: Feliciana Masonic Lodge on Proserity, Market Hall on Royal Street, and Jackson Hall on Ferdinand Street.
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