10/25/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/25/2024 12:05
Contact: Southeast Regional Communications, National Park Service
ATLANTA - The National Park Service (NPS) published today a historic context study of an eleven-mile stretch of the Great River Road along the west-bank of the Mississippi River located in west St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana. The NPS launched the Historic Context Study of Great River Roadin the summer of 2023 in response to a request to nominate the area as a National Historic Landmark (NHL). The historic context study, which provides the research needed to evaluate the NHL eligibility, finds that the area is a good candidate for consideration as an NHL.
Louisiana's Historic River Road contains sites associated with the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail and is part of the larger Great River Road National Scenic Byway, which follows the course of the Mississippi River for roughly 3,000 miles from Northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The eleven-mile section identified for this effort is already part of the State-certified River Road Cultural District and the local Parish-designated River Road Historic District.
The final study holistically documents the area's integrity and significance. Most importantly, at least 90 percent of the landscape within the study area contributes to setting and feeling, with the massive presence of the Mississippi River and thousands of acres of continuously farmed agricultural land counterbalancing pockets of new development. Approximately 682 (60%) individual resources out of 1,121 known resources within the study area were collectively determined to illustrate nationally significant history, including:
National Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic places that have exceptional abilities to illustrate and interpret American cultural heritage. The National Historic Landmarks Program, established in 1935, is administered by the National Park Service on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior and is responsible for helping to preserve and protect the just over 2,600 NHLs in the United States. The agency works with preservation officials, private property owners, and other partners interested in nominating properties for National Historic Landmark designation.