The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund recently financed a rehabilitation project of the North Enslaved Cabin/Tenant House at the Oakland Plantation Unit of Cane River Creole National Historical Park. The preservation of the cabin was a park priority as it is one of only two such buildings remaining in the quarters of Oakland Plantation.
The project included, both, exterior and interior work. The work crew meticulously repaired and painted window sills and jams, re-glazed window glass and gently re-attached the historic asphalt shingle siding to the exterior. Inside the cabin the crew repaired damaged tongue and groove flooring and reset brick pavers in the fireplace hearth. During the work, the historic linoleum was discovered and preserved in place with a plexi-glass covering that allows visitors to view the historic floor covering.
The work was performed by a GAOA-funded Maintenance Action Team (MAT) composed of skilled craftspeople from the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC). HPTC recruits, trains and employs people in traditional historic restoration and preservation techniques and trades. Several geographically based MATs travel to national parks to train and work alongside park staff to complete small, but critical, maintenance rehabilitation and repair projects on historic structures. MATs enable the National Park Service to complete projects that require knowledge and competency in traditional trades in a consistent and cost-effective manner.
“We are thankful for the outstanding work of the dedicated MAT team and the partnership with HPTC,” said Superintendent Carrie Mardorf. “Utilizing Great American Outdoors Act funding to address an important deferred maintenance project of this significant resource enables the park to better interpret enslaved and tenant farmer life on the plantation.”
The North Enslaved Cabin/Tenant House at Oakland Plantation was constructed circa 1860 by enslaved people and historically consisted of one room with front and rear porches. At the time of construction, the enslaved people of Oakland Plantation numbered more than 160 individuals. Over time, the cabin was modified by later sharecroppers and tenant farmers and has evolved into a three-room house with a front porch. The last tenant farmers moved out of the quarters in the early 1960s. The building serves as a vivid reminder of the lives and labors of the plantation’s Black residents during enslavement and after emancipation.
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