Oaklawn Manor, Plantation house in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, US

Oaklawn Manor is a plantation house on the Bayou Teche just outside Franklin, in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Alexander Porter built it about 1837, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Alexander Porter constructed the house in 1837 as the center of a sugar production operation. Economic conditions shifted dramatically after the Civil War, transforming what this property could support.

The rooms inside hold furniture and decorative objects that show how the household functioned in daily life. Walking through them, you notice the choices made about comfort and display that mattered to those who lived here.

Oaklawn Manor stands on the bank of the Bayou Teche just outside Franklin, in St. Mary Parish. The grounds lie along the waterway, so expect humid Louisiana heat much of the year; comfortable shoes help when walking between the house and the bayou edge.

The National Register listing does not date from 1973; the source only records that the house is listed. Alexander Porter built it around 1837, and after the Civil War his widow Mary Walton Porter sold it because she could not run the sugar plantation without slave labor.