Carroll Jones House
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The Carroll Jones house is a 1-1/2 story West Indies raised Creole house surmounted by a hipped roof and with an interior brick chimney. There is a question as to whether the house was built c. 1815 by François Roubieu, who first owned the land, or c. 1850. It was not built by Carroll Jones, however, who did not settle in Natchitoches Parish until 1869.
Carroll Jones was a free man of color who came to Louisiana from Sumner County, Tennessee, sometime after 1825. He married Catherine Clifton, a Choctaw woman from Rapides Parish in 1844. They lived in Rapides Parish until after the Civil War, when they settled on Cane River. Carroll and Catherine Jones had thirteen children together. It is said that Jones came to Louisiana to race horses, and it is known that he did considerable trading and speculating in livestock. He specialized in thoroughbred race horses, and had several that were recognized as champions. Jones made his fortune, however, in farming, and was one of the most successful plantation owners in Rapides and Natchitoches Parishes. Jones acquired thousands of acres on Isle Brevelle, and owned both the Lewis Jones house and this plantation house by the 1880s, when it was described in the Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana:
This plantation is splendidly located, extending across the Cane River, and is sufficiently high to prevent overflow. For this reason it is very desirable, as well as for the fact that the improvements are first class. Mr. Jones' residence is a large and commodious one, being 130 feet long by 80 feet wide...It is one of the most beautiful country seats in the parish...His home is recognized as one in which true hospitality is extended.
At a time when racial relations were tense in Louisiana, it is interesting to note that Jones's status as a man of color was not mentioned. This home is presently owned by a descendent of Walter Delphin. It was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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