The proprietor of the most important remaining antebellum mansion within the South — which burned to the bottom this week — hopes the 166-year-old Louisiana house will rise once more.
Hearth officers consider the reason for the Nottoway Plantation blaze was electrical and never suspicious, William Daniel Dyess, an legal professional and preservationist, instructed The Submit.
The blaze might have began in a aspect bed room. There had been a tour of the property that morning, stated Dyess, who stated he hopes to rebuild the house.
Flames broke out on the property in White Fortress, about half-hour south of Baton Rouge, simply after 2 p.m. on Thursday, drawing engines from 10 native hearth departments who have been helpless to cease the fireplace from torching all 53,000 sq. toes of the historic construction.
One hearth marshal referred to as it “the biggest fire” they’d seen, in line with ABC. No accidents have been reported.
Dyess solely not too long ago purchased the house, after the earlier proprietor was killed in a automobile accident, he stated.
Nottoway was a sugar plantation operated and constructed by slave labor on behalf of John Hampden Randolph in 1859. The 165-room house turned a museum within the Eighties, opening its doorways to guests from world wide.
However a lot of folks on social media stated they have been glad to see it burn.
“Some call it a tragedy, but for many Black folks, it feels like a small act of justice,” a person named Neo from The Black Wall Avenue Occasions wrote on X. “That home was constructed by enslaved palms and later changed into a marriage venue that profited off our ache.
“Maybe now, our ancestors can rest a little easier. Sometimes, ashes feel like freedom.”
Nottoway was “a symbol of both the grandeur and deep complexities,” Iberville Parish President Chris Daigle wrote on Fb.
“While its early history is undeniably tied to a time of great injustice, over the last several decades it evolved into a place of reflection, education, and dialogue,” Daigle added.
Dyess stated he understands the property’s polarizing historical past, however doesn’t align with its checkered previous.
“I take this position — we are non-racist people. I am a lawyer and my wife is a judge. we believe in equal opportunity rights for everyone, total equality and fairness,” Dyess stated. “My spouse and I had nothing to do with slavery however we acknowledge the wrongness of it.
“We are trying to make this a better place. We don’t have any interest in left wing radical stuff. We we need to move forward on a positive note here and we are not going to dwell on past racial injustice.”
Dyess can be the proprietor of the Metal Magnolia Home in Natchitoches, the house on the centerpiece of the 1989 movie, “Steel Magnolias.”
