Hermione (Tallulah, Louisiana)

Hermione, now the Hermione Museum, is a Greek Revival-style plantation house built in 1853 or 1855 on Kell Plantation in Madison Parish, Louisiana. In 1997 it was donated to the Madison Historical Society and moved to the parish seat of Tallulah.

Hermione
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The museum in 2018
Show map of Louisiana Show map of the United States
Location	305 North Mulberry Street, Tallulah, Louisiana
Coordinates	32°24′35″N 91°11′06″W
Area	Less than one acre
Built	c.1855
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Central-passage house
NRHP reference No.	98001422[1]
Added to NRHP	November 23, 1998

In April 1862, General Grant's troops landed at Milliken's Bend before the siege of Vicksburg and occupied the Sparta Plantation. During the course of the siege, Union forces confiscated the Hermione House, on the Kell Plantation, for use as a federal hospital. They also took over some other plantation homes in the area. The Hermione House is one of only four antebellum structures standing in Madison Parish.

Unlike many other houses in the area, it was not destroyed by Grant during the Vicksburg Campaign because it was being used as a Union hospital. The one-story building is now operated as a museum and offices for the Madison Historical Society, to which it was donated in 1997. Afterward, it was moved to its current location on North Mulberry Street (serving in the city as US 80).

Among the museum's exhibits is one devoted to Madam C. J. Walker, born free soon after the war as Sarah Breedlove near Delta, Louisiana. She is known as the first African-American woman to become a self-made millionaire, achieving this in the 20th century.^[2][3][4][5] The Hermione Museum is a site listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.^[2]

The house was originally listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 17, 1988, at its former location on the Kell plantation. After the building was successfully moved and adapted for use by the historical society, it was relisted on November 23, 1998. It is located at 305 N. Mulberry Street (also serving as US 80).^[1]

See also

• List of plantations in Louisiana
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison Parish, Louisiana

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
2. "Louisiana Honors Its African-American Heritage, state tourism website
3. "Born and Raised in the South... Tallulah, LA". February 6, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
4. "Hermione" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. Retrieved September 4, 2018. with five photos and two maps
5. National Register Staff (August 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hermione". National Park Service. Retrieved September 4, 2018. (comprising 1988 registration form #88002652), With seven photos from 1988 and 13 photos from 1998.

External links

• Hermione Museum, at LouisianaTravel.com