Have you ever wondered what it was like, really like, living and working in the 18th and 19th centuries? Wonder no more. Baton Rouge is home to one of the top 10 outdoor museums in the world and it is dedicated to showing and educating us on what it was like for the slave and working class in Louisiana. The LSU Rural Life Museum boasts more than 30 unique and historical buildings along with the largest collection of Material Culture from the 18th and 19th century rural Louisiana you will ever find. If you want to witness a snapshot in the life of a plantation worker there is no better place. I’m intrigued and have carved out a few hours of my day to explore this museum. It will be my first outdoor museum, ever.
One of 30 18th and 19th-century buildings on display at LSU Rural Life Museum
The Rural Life Museum is located at 4560 Essen Lane within the 440 acre Burden Museum and Gardens in the heart of Baton Rouge. Consider this park the Stanley Park or Central Park of Baton Rouge. There is lots to see within the Burden lands including the Botanical Gardens and Windrush Gardens. I recommend you set some extra time after visiting the Rural Life Museum to explore all they have to offer.
LSU Rural Life Museum location in Baton Rouge
Admission to the museum is a mere $9 and your exploration starts off with a short video presentation on the museum and life in 18th and 19th century rural Louisiana.
Small theatre and video to start off your tour of the Rural Life Museum
Once you’ve watched the video you are free to explore the museum on your own. There are two major parts the to the museum. The first part in housed indoors at the Visitor Center. Here is where I saw exhibits showing every facet of rural Louisiana life. From the Salves perspectives, the Landowners, and the Freemen hired to run the Plantations. It was not an easy life, especially if you were a slave.
Slave exhibits at the LSU Rural Life Museum
Wooden shoes worn by slaves working in the plantation fields
Bill of sale for a Louisiana slave
There is a section of the exhibit dedicated to artifacts from the American Civil War as well as the Industrial Revolution and how that changed working conditions on the plantations. There are actual pieces of trees on display that have cannon shot buried inside them from the Civil War.
Industrial Revolution exhibit at Rural Life Museum
Hot peanuts anyone Circa 19th Century
Cannon Shot in tree from the American Civil War
There is a second exhibit inside the Visitor Center. This is a little less structured but equally as fascinating. It is a massive collection of everything to be found from rural Louisiana life back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Everything from horse-drawn buggies, funeral hearses to giant looms. You can get lost just wandering though the rooms packed full.
Farm wagon on display at the Rural Life Museum
Funeral Hearse on display at the Rural Life Museum
Giant loom on display at the Rural Life Museum
Once you have weaved your way through this collection you make it out to the second exhibit area and probably the most impressive. Behind the back of the Visitor Center is the outdoor portion of the museum. Set up to represent a typical plantation system you are free to wander and explore at your own pace.
The outdoor portion of the Rural Life Museum begins here
Everything you need to run a plantation is here. From the Overseer’s home and office to the Slave Quarters and gardens. It is amazing and best of all it is completely open. You can walk into each building and explore it. Do you think your home or condo is small? Try living in one of these building with your husband/wife and all your kids. You’ll never complain about the size of your home again.
One of 30 buildings to explore at the Rural Life Museum
Slave Quarters
Overseers Dining Room
View from the Overseers House with Slave quarters on the right and left
Of course on a plantation, you lived and worked on the same spot so at the far end of the field you can see where the sugar cane was processed. There was no morning commute needed here.
Sugarcane processing building
Kettles set over a fire pit used to process the Sugarcane syrup
Not everyone lived and worked on a plantation in Louisiana back then. At the Rural Life Museum, they have a rare find, an actual Pioneer home dating back to 1810. It has been preserved extremely well; you can go inside and witness what it would have been like to live there. No privacy, you eat, cook and sleep in the same room.
Pioneer House circa 1810
Inside the Pioneer House
Another view inside the Pioneer House
Of course, there is plenty more to see and experience at the Rural Life Museum. This is just a snapshot of some of what you will find. It is fascinating and well worth exploring. On the day I arrived I had the museum almost entirely to myself. A bit shocking considering that over 67,000 people visit the museum each year.
Inside view of a Dining Room
I was also lucky to take in a concert at the museum on the day I took my tour. It doesn’t happen everyday, but I am a lucky traveler. The outdoor concert is called Symphony Idol and this year it stars the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra with special guests Lakisha Jones, Matt Giraud and Haley Scarnato of American Idol fame.
Symphony Idol at Rural Life Museum
What a setting for a concert. It’s right next to some cows so even if the kids are not into the music they enjoy some farm animals.
It is a full field at the Rural Life Museum for Symphony Idol
VIP tables set up for Symphony Idol at the Rural Life Museum
Feed a cow and listen to some music
It is easy to see why the LSU Rural Life Museum ranks as one of the top 10 outdoor museums in the world. When you visit Baton Rouge next, I hope you put a visit to the museum on your list of things to do. It is both educational and a great way to spend an afternoon.Really, I will never complain about the size of my condo again.