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The Jean Lafitte Acadian Center is conducting free walking tours of Downtown Thibodaux to heighten historical knowledge.
The tours started over nine years ago to transport the community and tourists to the preserved past.
“Our mission as the National Park Service is to preserve for the education, enjoyment, and inspiration for present and future generations. Part of that is to help people connect with the historical resources…the amazing stories that we have here,” Allyn explained.
Lead Ranger, Allyn Rodriguez, directs the walking tours of Downtown Thibodaux along with other park rangers. She leads a variety of ages over the paved streets, bridging their minds to local historical.
“I’ve taken kids, college kids, summer camp kids, middle school kids…seemingly, I’ve taken everyone on a walk,” Rodriguez said. “It’s about making those connections and actually helping people make those connections to our local area.”
Tourists become treasure hunters that uncover aged information.
“It’s like a treasure trove. It’s so deceptively hidden. It’s really wonderful to get out and take a moment to really appreciate it,” Rodriguez stated.
“It’s a lot of fun! People are always learning something new. There’s always treasures of fun information,” she added.
The tours architect significance of Downtown Thibodaux, whether you are a local or a visitor.
“It’s a nice way to get to know your town, whether you’re visiting or from out-of-state,” Rodriguez said.
Sightseers will walk through time and learn details about different eras. They will also build insight about architecture that is linked to that period.
“All the periods were connected to what was going on economically, because as things progress, you have more money, and you want to update. That of course shapes what you build, it shapes your architecture. You have different architecture because, that was what was in fashion,” Rodriguez said.
The rangers will lead you down a path that is constructed and beveled with period architecture.
“We talk about the environment and how it shaped people’s decisions on what to build, what to use when they built, how to build, and how that changed over time,” Rodriguez explained.
The timeline has influenced the engineering of buildings and the surroundings.
“When sugar was the prominent economic driver, you were building in the early 1800’s. That’s the kind of architecture that you see that fortunately for us, survived,” Rodriguez said.
“You can actually move through time to see how things evolved,” she added.
As you end the tour of Downtown Thibodaux, a gratitude of history will be bracketed.
“We hope that they leave with a deeper appreciation and understanding of what an amazingly unique area we live in,” Rodriguez ended.
The Jean Lafitte Acadian Center is open Thursday through Saturday from 10am-4pm (Covid Hours). Free walking tours of Downtown Thibodaux are conducted at 10am, Thursday through Saturday. The Jean Lafitte Acadian Center is located at 314 St. Mary Street, Thibodaux. Call 985-448-1375 for more information and availability due to Covid restrictions.
You can also visit:
https://www.facebook.com/JeanLafitteNPS/
https://www.nps.gov/jela/wetlands-acadian-cultural-center.htm
