·The annual Audubon Pilgrimage March 19, 20 and 21, 2010, celebrates a southern spring in St. Francisville, the glorious garden spot of Louisiana’s English Plantation Country. For four decades the sponsoring West Feliciana Historical Society, its docents resplendent in authentic 1820’s costumes, has thrown open the doors of significant historic structures to commemorate the tenure there of artist-naturalist John James Audubon as he painted a number of his famous bird folios.
· Ths year’s pilgrimage will have even more to celebrate, as 2010 marks the bicentennial of the West Florida Rebellion which united the Anglo-American pioneers in ousting a corrupt Spanish regime which persisted in claiming this territory on the east side of the Mississippi River even after the Louisiana Purchase; the resultant West Florida Republic, which lasted for a heady 74 days, had its capital in St. Francisville.
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On tour will be four private homes—The Cabildo and Barrow House in town, Butler Greenwood Plantation and Laurel Hill Plantation in the countryside--and two state sites with historic or familial ties to the Rebellion, plus an exceptional antebellum garden, the popular Rural Homestead replicating the rustic daily skills of early settlers, and lots of fun extra activities for the whole family.
For Audubon Pilgrimage information, contact the West Feliciana Historical Society, P.O. Box 338, St. Francisville, LA 70775; telephone 225-635-6330; online email sf@audubonpilgrimage.info and website www.audubonpilgrimage.info. Information on St. Francisville area overnight accommodations, tourist attractions, restaurants, shops and recreational opportunities may be obtained by telephoning 225-635-4224.