History
Sugar was the crop. The parish grew around it.
For a century and a half, cane drew people to Terrebonne and paid for its growth. Four generations of the Minor family lived in this house, and so did hundreds of mill workers, field workers, and their families. The Minors left in 1936. The work did not.
The walls are twelve inches of brick fired on the property. Floors mix local red cypress and pine. The current pink and green were chosen by THACS to match an 1893 scheme found in the paint analysis.
1790 & 1798
The first owners, from Havana, receive Spanish land grants.
1821–1828
Jim and Rezin Bowie buy the property and plant indigo.
1828
William J. Minor and James Dinsmore purchase about 1,200 arpents and name it Southdown.
1859
Minor builds a one-story brick house: Greek Revival plan, Gothic turrets flanking the gabled porch.
1893
Henry Minor adds the second floor and Victorian detail, including Favrile glass. The pink and green used today were matched to that year’s paint.
1975
Valhi, Inc. gives THACS the house, the servants’ quarters, and 4.46 acres.
1982
THACS opens the property as Southdown Plantation House / The Terrebonne Museum.
1999
An 1880s worker’s cabin from Hollywood Plantation is moved onto the grounds.
Southdown
Plantation & Museum
1208 Museum Drive
Houma, LA 70360
985-851-0154
info@southdownmuseum.org
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