The Settlement Of Freetown

Freetown's thirty-one founders were a recognizable group. They include J.C. Oliver, named as the parish's first Black sheriff, who served in 1871 and 1872; Mack Nelson, its first constable of color; and Sally Johnson, an early woman landowner of color. The settlement built its own safety net. The Rising Sun Benevolent Association, founded September 29, 1908, met in Freetown Hall and pledged to care for the sick and bury the dead, a forerunner of insurance, and it is described as the second-oldest such association still running on the west bank. Today Freetown fills about two streets.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Whitney Plantation — 12 mi
  A museum on a former sugar plantation along the River Road that tells its story through the people who were enslaved there, with memorials to 107,000 enslaved Louisianans and 2,200 children.
• E. D. White Historic Site — 16 mi
  A National Historic Landmark house of about 1790 on Bayou Lafourche, built by enslaved people and home to two Whites, a governor and a Chief Justice, with an exhibit on the bayou's history.
• Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center — 17 mi
  A Jean Lafitte National Historical Park center on Bayou Lafourche with Acadian and bayou-life exhibits, a 200-seat theater and ranger-guided boat tours to the E. D. White house.
• Laurel Valley Village — 18 mi
  A sugar plantation's workers' village south of Thibodaux, with cabins of about 1845, shotgun houses, a store and cemetery, and the 1887 strike and massacre in the parish around it.

More markers nearby

• Malarcher House — 0.8 mi
• Uncle Sam Plantation Historical Marker — 1.0 mi
• St. Jacques de Cabahanoce — 1.9 mi
• Site of First Acadian Settlers in Louisiana — 1.9 mi