The Krantz Plantation. Many people may have heard stories of the Krantz Resort Hotel, destroyed in 1893, by the horrible hurricane that struck Grand Isle and Caminada. (the 1893 hurricane kill over 2,000 people, and ended an era on Grand Isle). Before the Civil War, Krantz was a luxurious Plantation home producing sugarcane on Grand Isle. After the war, slaves were not available to work the land, so the plantation was renovated into a resort hotel. Mother Nature has destroyed the Krantz Resort Hotel, but some residents have found traces of the grand old Krantz Hotel on the old property, including cups and saucers from the restaurant and metal tracks used for transporting goods.
The Encalada Plantation. In Grand Isle history books, Valentin Encalada is described as cultivating sugarcane. Encalada's property came from the old Caillet concession and probably was the first sugarcane plantation on Grand Isle. In 1829 Encalada sold his property, not his slaves, to another sugarcane planter, Samuel Britton Bennett, who resumed cultivation around 1831.
The Bennett Plantation. Bennett formed a partnership with Herri Plerre Fauchier to help farm the land. In 1831, Bennett and Fauchier mortgaged the property to invest in equipment and slaves necessary to develop the sugarcane plantation. In 1833, Bennett again mortgaged the property to Union Bank of Louisiana for $22,500. Bennett sold his stock, slaves and equipment to his brother, Henry Lyle Bennettin 1836. In 1837, he sold it to James Ramage of New Orleans. Ramage died only 3 years later. Upon Ramage's death, all propertyand equipment were inventoried. Between the slave houses, sugar mill, steam engine, ploughs, harnesses, tongs, cows, horses, etc.. the plantation was valued at $41,000. The bank took over, and sold everything to the highest bidder, Noel Barthelemy Le Breton at $17,000.
This marked the end of the plantation days, since Le Breton divided his land into 43 lots and sold them.The Barataria Plantation. Fernando de Colmenero and Mariano Ribas, in 1841, purchased part of Le Breton's property that was adjacent to their own. In the center of Grand Isle, where the soil was richest, Barataria Plantation was the largest to be cultivated in the island. During the 1830's the owners purchased land, expanding their investment to 60 arpents across Grand Isle. Like many plantations, Barataria faced financial burdens. In 1848, Juan Ignacio de Egana, owner of Rienzi Plantation in Thibodaux, bought Barataria from Ribas and Coimenero.
In the mid to late 1850's, Egana was forced to plant cotton on his property because of financial reasons. Upon his death in 1860, the value of his plantation was $148,190. The property was sold over and over again, creating smaller tracts of land, bought by visitors and used for bathing resorts.
