The African American Experience in Louisiana

4. Towns and Settlements
Towns and settlements tell a distinctive story of the African American experience in Louisiana,
whether it is of the establishment of free life or of displacement. Rural communities of Free
People of Color are the earliest examples of this classification of district. From Iberville Parish,
to St. Landry Parish, to Point Coupée Parish, to Natchitoches Parish, and beyond there were
enclaves of Free People of Color. A good portion of these were well-off and had substantial
landholdings and homes. Many Free People of Color with smaller farms were concentrated in
Calcasieu, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lafourche, Rapides, and St. Tammany Parishes. 269 Although
there is a fair amount of documentation of such settlements in the historic records, there is not a
lot of data available regarding what historic resources remain of them, except for Isle Brevelle in
Natchitoches Parish. Musicologists and linguists have produced scholarly research on such
communities, but probably because of the focus of architectural historians on observable built
resources, less is known about the subtle features or remodeled buildings that may survive to
communicate important information about the formative years of these settlements.
Following the Civil War, newly freed people found little success in securing land for their own
farms or communities (see page 34). Government programs intended to help freed people attain
landownership were largely unsuccessful and not many white landowners were willing to sell to
African Americans. Thus, African-American communities established shortly after the Civil
War are significant examples of an uncommon story. Perhaps the most well-documented and
best preserved early post-bellum African-American community in Louisiana is Dorseyville in
Ibervile Parish. Dorseyville was established shortly after the Civil War by people laboring on
the surrounding sugar cane plantations. The oldest standing building in the community is
believed to be St. John Baptist Church, constructed c. 1871 and listed on the National Register as
a representation of the early settlement of Dorseyville (see Religious). The Dorseyville School,
built in 1893 is another significant nineteenth century landmark in the community (see
Educational). Although residential buildings from the early years of Dorseyville’s settlement
may not survive in their original form, the community definitely retains a late nineteenth-century
to early twentieth-century character. It is very likely that a careful analysis of property records,
the collection of family oral histories and an examination of privately held family records could
reveal a more detailed history of the founding of Dorseyville than is presently understood. It is
also very likely that many of the present buildings, though not dating to the earliest period of
establishment reflect the settlement history of Dorseyville through their familial associations. It
is without a doubt a community worthy of study and a close study could help to establish
potential National Register eligibility for the community.
Though there must certainly be others, only two other surviving settlements were identified
during this study as being the direct product of liberated slaves. Those are Freetown in St. James
Parish and Mossville in Calcasieu Parish. Freetown was established in 1866 from a row of
cabins. It remains a small community today, but one that has maintained a sense of its history.
As in other settlements of its kind, properties have been passed down from one generation to the
next in Freetown. In 1999, Dr. Clyde C. Robertson completed a study of the community entitled
“Pride and Perseverance: A Case Study of a Louisiana Freetown Community” which showed
269 Sterkx, 214.
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