Fire destroys a sprawling mansion on a former Louisiana sugar plantation
[May 17, 2025]
WHITE CASTLE, La. (AP) — Flames ripped through a massive mansion in
Louisiana, destroying much of the historic structure that was used as a
plantation house when it was completed in 1859, authorities said.
The fire that engulfed the Nottoway Plantation House on Thursday
devastated the building along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge
and New Orleans, Iberville Parish President Chris Daigle said on social
media. Nearly a dozen fire departments from surrounding towns battled
the blaze, he said. No injuries were reported.
Before the fire, it was a resort and event venue, and its website
described it as “the South's largest remaining antebellum mansion."
Daigle called it “a cornerstone of our tourism economy and a site of
national significance.”
The 53,000-square-foot (4,924-square-meter) home on a former sugar
plantation about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans had
a three-story rotunda adorned with giant white columns and hand-carved
Italian marble fireplaces, according to a description on its website.
The mansion's owner, Louisiana attorney Dan Dyess, said in a written
statement that the fire had led to a “total loss" after all the time and
money he invested in the building.
“We are devastated and heartbroken for this loss,” he said. “This was my
dream that has now been dashed.”
Photos from local news outlets showed a giant orange wall of fire
consuming the upper portion of the rotunda and sending a plume of thick
smoke into the sky.
The fire has been contained, and no other properties were harmed, said
Maj. Monty Migliacio of the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office. Other
structures on the grounds have been preserved, parish officials said.
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Fire crews mover a line around the now fully engulfed the Nottoway
Plantation on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in White Castle, La. (Michael
Johnson/The Advocate via AP)
“We are at the beginning phases of the investigation, we don’t know
how the fire began and our objective is to determine how it
started,” Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal Public Affairs
Director Ken Pastorick said.
In a statement on Facebook, Daigle touched on the structure's
history of racial injustice during a time when enslaved Black people
helped build the home and operate the sugar plantation that
surrounded it. In 1860, 155 enslaved people were held at the
property, according to National Park Service records.
“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, education, and dialogue,” Daigle said.
“Since the 1980s, it has welcomed visitors from around the world who
came to appreciate its architecture and confront the legacies of its
era," he added. "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.”
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