46th ANNUAL
AUDUBON
PILGRIMAGE
March 17, 18 & 19 • 2017
In Historic
St. Francisville, Louisiana
Table of Contents:
• Description of Event
• Tour Prices
• Overnight Accommodations
• Restaurant Options
• Private Homes on Tour
• State Historic Sites
• Afton Villa Gardens
• Costumes
• Churches
• Living History Demonstrations
• Friday Evening Activities
• Saturday Night Soiree
• Exploring Nature and Birding
•
Audubon’s Birds of Feliciana Art Exhibit
• For Additional Information
46th ANNUAL
AUDUBON
PILGRIMAGE
Description of Event
The annual Audubon Pilgrimage 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.
When flamboyant artist-naturalist John James Audubon
arrived in the St. Francisville area in 1821, he said the
rich lushness of the landscape and flourishing birdlife “all
excited my admiration”. Having set for himself the
staggering task of painting all the birds of this immense
fledgling country, Audubon found inspiration for more
than 80 of them while residing at the Oakley Plantation.
Both he and wife Lucy tutored area plantation children to
fund publication of his Birds of America.
In celebration of Audubon’s stay, the West Feliciana Historical Society’s annual pilgrimage
has since 1972 permitted privileged visitors an intimate glimpse of Audubon’s scenic,
unspoiled Happyland.
Group Tour Prices
Bring your group and celebrate a southern spring in St. Francisville.
Tour Prices: $35.00 per person for groups of 10 or more.
Groups of 10 or more receive the following benefits:
Discounted Ticket Prices
Box Lunch available upon request
Picnic on the Grounds of one of our Historic Homes
Personal Guide Provided. Limited Availability
Contact: Helen Williams at (225) 635-6330
[email protected]
Overnight Accommodations
Hotels & Resorts
Best Western St. Francisville Hotel
6756 US Highway 61, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-5851
Website: http://www.bestwestern.com
Email: [email protected]
The Hotel Francis
1 Lakeside Dr, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-3821
Website: www.magnusonhotels.com
Email: [email protected]
The Lodge at The Bluffs
5903 Magnolia Lane, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 634-5222
Website: http://www.thelodgeatthebluffs.com/
Email: [email protected]
3V Tourist Court
5687 Commerce St, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 721 7003
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.magnolia3vtouristcourts.html
B&B’s
Barrow House & Printer's Cottage
9779 Royal Street, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-4791
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.topteninn.com
Butler Greenwood Plantation B&B
8345 US Highway 61, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-6312
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.butlergreenwood.com/
Cottage Plantation B&B
10528 Cottage Lane, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-3674
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.cottageplantation.com/
Greenwood Plantation B&B
6838 Highland Rd, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (800) 259-4475
Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.greenwoodplantation.com/
Hemingbough B&B
10101 LA 965, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-6617
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hemingbough.com/guesthouse
Lake Rosemound Inn B&B
10473 Lindsey Lane, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-3176
Email: [email protected]
The Myrtles Plantation B&B
7747 US Highway 61, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (800) 809-0565
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.myrtlesplantation.com
Shadetree Inn
Royal at Ferdinand St., St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-6116
Email:[email protected]
Website: http://www.shadetreeinn.com/
St. Francisville Inn B&B
5720 Commerce St., St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (800) 488-6502
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.stfrancisvilleinn.com
RV Parks
Peaceful Pines RV Park
11907 LA 965, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-4903
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.peacefulpinesrvpark.com
Shelby J's RV Park
14189 Hwy 10, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Phone: (225) 635-4246
Website: www.facebook.com/ShelbyJsRvPark
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Restaurant Options
Al Aqaba
5712 Commerce Street - Authentic Lebanese
225-245-5046
Audubon Café
7143 Hwy 61 - Casual dining serving specialty sandwiches, large salads, po-boys and
seafood. (225) 635-5446
Birdman Books and Coffees
5695 Commerce St. – Coffee, espresso, sweet treats and breakfast.
(225) 635-3665
Bluffs Restaurant
114233 Sunrise Way - Fine dining, lunch and dinner; sandwiches, seafood, and steaks
(225) 634-6400
East Dragon
10001 Wilcox St. - Chinese cooking.
(225) 635-6777
The Francis Smokehouse
6799 US Hwy 61 - Casual dining serving BBQ, smoked meats, sandwiches & daily specials
225-245-5046
The Francis Southern Table & Bar
6747 US Hwy 61 - Casual dining serving offering classic Southern dishes & cocktails,
plus a large patio & live music.
225-635-0033
Magnolia Café
5687 Commerce Street - Original Louisiana cooking.
(225) 635-6528
Que Pasa
US 61 & South Commerce St. - Authentic Mexican and American dishes • full bar
Smoke free dinin,g area and outside patio area.
(225) 784-0161
Sonny's Pizza
7157 Hwy 61 - Pizza, sandwiches and salads.
(225) 635-4771
South of the Border
14945 US Hwy 61(225) 635-3071
St. Francisville Inn
5720 Commerce Street - Group tours only with pre-arranged reservations
(225) 635-6502 • (800) 488-6502
The Carriage House
7747 US Hwy 61 - Plantation cooking steaks to seafood. Located at the Myrtles Plantation
(225) 635-6278
Fast food options are available...Churches Chicken, McDonald’s, Sonic, Subway
Private Homes on Tour
Each year, four private homes and their gardens are open to the public. These homes rotate from
year to year providing our tourists with new experiences. All homes are historic and include tours
of private gardens, family heirlooms and antique furniture.
Saint Clare
Wyoming
Wildwood
Hillcroft
State Historic Sites
ROSEDOWN STATE HISTORIC SITE
was built in 1834 by Daniel Turnbull and his wife,
Martha Barrow, who on their European wedding trip
gleaned the inspiration for the 27 acres of formal
gardens surrounding the stately, double-galleried house.
Approached by a magnificent allee of enormous live oaks,
Rosedown is now a National Historic Landmark.
`
OAKLEY,
since 1947 the centerpiece of Audubon State Historic Site,
is a splendid early 19th-century three-story structure
exhibiting West Indies influences like its jalousied galleries.
Here John James Audubon in 1821tutored the beautiful
young daughter of the Pirrie family, with his afternoons
free to roam the woods and collect bird specimens to paint.
Afton Villa Gardens
AFTON VILLA GARDENS, approached by a
serpentine avenue of live oaks under-planted
with azaleas, surround the romantic ruins of the
Gothic Revival mansion, which burned in 1963.
Formal parterres and terraced vistas comprise
landscaped acres. Restored by Genevieve
Trimble and her husband, the late Morrell
Trimble.
Costumes
COSTUMES worn by Pilgrimage workers reflect the authentic dress of the 1820's and
received national recognition from the American Association of State and Local History.
Churches
OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL, on Catholic Hill,
built in 1891 from plans drawn by Gen. PG. T. Beauregard.
For the first time since the days of Spanish rule,
Roman Catholic faithful would have a residnet priest.
The present UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
on Royal Street replaced the flood-damaged church built
on Bayou Sara in 1844. The original bell was retained
and summons the faithful today.
GRACE EPISCOPAL was established in 1827 when
the newly ordained W.R. Bowman came to visit his sisterm
Mary Stirling and found a waiting flock. The present church
was completed in time for Easter 1860. Severely damaged in
the Civil War by gunboats, it was not consecrated until 1891.
ST. MARY’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH was built in
1857 to serve the antebellum plantation community around
Weyanoke. Deconsecrated in 1947, the haunting beauty of
this Gothic Revival brick chapel, an austerely elegant setting
for weddings and funerals even when emptied of its pews,
has fueled ongoing enthusiasm for its preservation.
Living History Demonstrations
To visit the Rural Homestead is to experience the life-style of "rural" southerners in the
1820's. Native materials, hand-hewn cypress shingles and ancient timbers present a
faithful recreation of what "home" meant to the plain folk of the nineteenth century south.
Throughout the Homestead, local volunteers demonstrate the skills they learned first-hand
growing up in rural West Feliciana: open hearth and wood stove cookery, basket weaving,
quilting, cotton carding and spinning, while the gristmill grinds out cornmeal. Shingles are
rived, while mule and plow break ground, all to the sound of homegrown music makers - a
happy "frolic" from an earlier day.
Friday Evening Activities
Friday Night Entertainment • $25 per person
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Includes the following:
Cemetery Tour - (last tour starts at 8:15 pm) at Grace Church
Robust Hymn Singing - United Methodist Church - 6 pm
Wine & Cheese Reception - (reception starts at 7 pm) at Bishop Jackson Hall
Period Costumes and Vintage Dancers
Royal Street by Candlelight
Audubon Art Exhibit - Market Hall
Saturday Evening Activities
Saturday Night Entertainment • $60 per person
7:00 pm - Light Up the Night, Soirée
Live Music, Fine Food, Drinks, and Dancing
Join us during the 46th Annual Audubon Pilgrimage for Exploring Nature & Birding at
Audubon State Historic Site. Here John James Audubon roamed the woods to collect bird
specimens to paint over 30 of the Birds of America. There will be three spectacular morning
events that will be included with the purchase of your 2017 Audubon Pilgrimage ticket.
Friday, March 17 • 9:30- 10:30 Nature Walk and Birding Talks with
Murrell Butler
Murrell Butler, a naturalist and renowned artist, is noted for his dramatic
landscapes and lifelike bird illustrations. He has designed stamps for the
National Wild Turkey Foundation, illustrated in Encyclopedia
Britannica and other publications, and in 1988 was selected by the Louisiana
Wild Turkey Foundation artist of the year.
Saturday, March 18 • 9:30-11:00
Explore Audubon’s Happyland with Photographer, CC Lockwood. He shares
techniques in natural history photography and tips in digital photography,
followed by a slide show on birds that Audubon painted.
CC Lockwood has worked and lived in fragile ecosystems where preservation
shapes his artistry. Through words and images, he captures the unique sense
of space in wild places as diverse as Louisiana swampland and the back
coutry of the wildwest while earning international acclaim as an environmental artist.
Sunday, March 19 • 9:30- 10:30
Identify Local and Migratory Birds as Tom Tully Guides You through
Audubon Territory. Habitat, bird calls, and diet will be discussed.
Dr. Tom Tully is a resident of West Feliciana Parish and an avian veterinary
specialist at Louisiana State University.
PRESENTS
MARCH 17, 18, 19 • 2017
Audubon’s Birds of Feliciana
Please join us at Market Hall for an exhibit of over sixty of John James Audubon’s
Birds of America, painted during his stay in the Felicianas. The exhibit will identify the
location in the parish where the birds were painted, (Oakley, Sleepy Hollow, Beechwoods,
and Bayou Sara.) Also the migration pattern change and causes will be highlighted and the
extinction of some of the birds. John James Audubon himself may be seen at the exhibit!
Local artist Patsy Welch Dreher will have her original Audubon inspired art work on display.
Too, our own West Feliciana Middle School students will share their Audubon inspired art
work at the exhibit.
At the exhibit, a drawing for a framed Amsterdam Edition Audubon, donated by Taylor Clark
Gallery, will be held.
The West Feliciana Historical Society Thanks the Sponsors of this Exhibit: Taylor Clark
Gallery, The Nature Conservancy, Baton Rouge Audubon Society, Feliciana Nature Society,
and West Feliciana Middle School.
Audubon State Historic Site • 11788 L.A. Hwy. 965
Market Hall • 9896 Royal Street
westfelicianahistoricalsociety.org
For Additional Information:
West Feliciana Historical Society
11757 Ferdinand Street
P. O. Box 338
Saint Francisville, Louisiana, 70775
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (225) 635-6330
Website: www.westfelicianahistoricalsociety.org