America's largest remaining antebellum mansion burns down in devastating fire

Historic Nottoway Plantation the largest antebellum mansion in the U S burned to the ground this week after a fire broke out on Thursday There have been no reports of injuries or deaths connected to the fire Fire crews worked to extinguish the flames with water reportedly being poured onto the rubble as long as hours after the fire started according to Fox As of Saturday the cause of the fire was still under study Specific staff members stated they had gone into the museum and there was smoke When they returned the whole room was in flames Iberville Parish President Chris Daigle reported Fox adding that it was a total loss DEAD AFTER HOUSE BURNS DOWN IN NEW JERSEY FOLLOWING 'GIGANTIC EXPLOSION ' CRIMINAL RESEARCH UNDERWAYDaigle noted in a post on the Iberville Parish Authorities s Facebook page that The loss of Nottoway is not just a loss for Iberville Parish but for the entire state of Louisiana It was a cornerstone of our tourism market and a site of national significance The -room mansion was built by John Hampden Randolph in the late s according to multiple sources It sat on more than square feet and in addition to the dozens of rooms it contained doors and windows and white columns Fox revealed The property overlooked the Mississippi River NJ WILDFIRE SCORCHES ACRES AS FIREFIGHTERS WORK TOWARD CONTAINMENTRandolph first arrived in Louisiana in and began by planting cotton but ultimately shifted to sugar cane according to the LSU Scholarly Repository The scholarly repository article also notes that the mansion was named Nottoway after the county in Virginia where his ancestors lived U S Department of the Interior records cited by Axios show that Randolph owned slaves and acres of land by In addition to the luxurious mansion the property also featured several trees that are over years old several of which are more than years old according to Nottoway Plantation s website In modern times the mansion and the surrounding property functioned as a museum resort and wedding venue Nottoway Plantation s website states that it sat on acres which included overnight rooms a bar a restaurant event space a pool tennis courts and more While its early history is undeniably tied to a time of great injustice over the last several decades it evolved into a place of reflection teaching and dialogue Daigle wrote in the Facebook post Since the s it has welcomed visitors from around the world who came to appreciate its architecture and confront the legacies of its era It stood as both a cautionary monument and a testament to the importance of preserving history even the painful parts so that future generations can learn and grow from it