Winter Quarters State Historic Site
Winter Quarters State Historic Site preserves an antebellum cotton plantation and surviving plantation house on Lake St. Joseph in Tensas Parish, Louisiana.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Winter Quarters State Historic Site is a historic property in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, south of Newellton on Lake St. Joseph, an oxbow lake formed from a former bend of the Mississippi River. The site preserves a surviving example of an antebellum cotton plantation, centered on a plantation house whose origins reach back to the early nineteenth century. The main house began as a hunting lodge built by Job Routh in 1805. It was subsequently enlarged and developed into a residence. The name Winter Quarters reflected the seasonal pattern of plantation life: the residents ordinarily lived elsewhere and came to the property during the winter. This pattern was associated with plantation ownership and management in the lower Mississippi Valley, where agricultural estates could be operated as seasonal residences rather than as the owners’ permanent homes. Winter Quarters is especially significant because it survived the destruction that affected neighboring plantations during the American Civil War. Before the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863, fifteen plantations stood along Lake St. Joseph. Union troops destroyed the other plantations in the area, while Winter Quarters remained intact. The property belonged to Julia Augusta Williams Nutt, the wife of planter Haller Nutt. Haller Nutt was identified as pro-Union, and General Ulysses S. Grant consequently ensured that the plantation was not damaged. Union soldiers were housed at Winter Quarters during the winter of 1863–1864. The property also continued to function as a working plantation and local commercial setting after the Civil War. In the early twentieth century, Wade A. Netterville managed the store at Winter Quarters while working for owner Dr. J. M. Gillespie. Netterville later managed or worked at other plantations in the region, including Panola, Wyoming, and Panda plantations. These references document the site’s connection to the agricultural, managerial, and mercantile systems that shaped rural Tensas Parish. Winter Quarters had continued residential significance in the mid-twentieth century. During the 1950s, James and Bea Doyle lived at the property with their daughter, Barbara Sue Doyle Hage. Hage, born in 1949, became the 1962 March of Dimes poster child and was described at the time of her death in 2016 as the oldest known survivor of spina bifida. She later worked for the Louisiana State University Extension Service in St. Joseph and was active as a church pianist and vocalist, seamstress, and gardener. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and had previously been open for public tours. Its public-history role was severely interrupted by a tornado on April 4, 2011, which critically damaged the site. As of February 2022, Winter Quarters remained closed indefinitely, and the State of Louisiana had announced no reopening date or established plan for returning the site to public use. Because it is a historic site rather than a conventional commercial brand, its principal public offering is preservation and interpretation of a Louisiana plantation landscape, architecture, and associated history.
History
Winter Quarters developed from a hunting lodge built by Job Routh in 1805 in what is now Tensas Parish, Louisiana. The structure was later enlarged and became the principal residence of the property. Its name referred to the seasonal movement of residents who lived elsewhere for much of the year and came south during the winter. This pattern placed the property within the broader social and agricultural system of the lower Mississippi Valley, where plantation ownership, seasonal residence, cotton production, and estate management were closely connected. The property is located south of Newellton on Lake St. Joseph, an oxbow lake created from an earlier course of the Mississippi River. Before the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863, fifteen plantations stood along the lake. The Civil War transformed the area. Union troops destroyed the other plantations along Lake St. Joseph, but Winter Quarters survived because it was owned by Julia Augusta Williams Nutt, the wife of Haller Nutt. Haller Nutt was pro-Union, and General Ulysses S. Grant protected the plantation from destruction. Union soldiers used the property as quarters during the winter of 1863–1864. The survival of the house gives the site particular importance as a physical remnant of the antebellum plantation landscape and of wartime occupation in the region. Winter Quarters remained connected to agricultural operations and local commerce in the decades after the war. Wade A. Netterville managed the plantation store in the early twentieth century while employed by owner Dr. J. M. Gillespie. His subsequent management positions at Panola, Wyoming, and Panda plantations illustrate the movement of experienced managers among the large agricultural properties of the parish. The reference to a store also indicates that Winter Quarters was more than a residence: it formed part of a working plantation economy with commercial and managerial functions. The property retained a residential role during the twentieth century. James and Bea Doyle lived there during the 1950s with their daughter Barbara Sue Doyle Hage. Hage became the 1962 March of Dimes poster child and later worked for the Louisiana State University Extension Service in St. Joseph. Her life connected the historic property with a later community history that included disability advocacy, public service, church music, sewing, and gardening. Winter Quarters was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and had previously been open for public tours. Its preservation and interpretation as a state historic site provided visitors with access to an antebellum plantation house and the history associated with its owners, workers, wartime survival, and later residents. On April 4, 2011, a tornado critically damaged the property. The damage led to the suspension of public access. By February 2022, Winter Quarters remained closed indefinitely, and the State of Louisiana had no announced reopening date or defined plan for reopening the site for public use. The site’s current operational status therefore remains uncertain, although its historical importance derives from the survival of its early-nineteenth-century house and its unusually documented connections to the Civil War and the plantation landscape of Lake St. Joseph.
- 2022
Site remains closed indefinitely
[1]As of February, the property remained closed, with no announced reopening date or established state plan for public use.
- 2011
Tornado critically damages the site
[1]A tornado on April 4 caused critical damage and resulted in the interruption of public access.
- 1978
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
[1]Winter Quarters was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
- 1863
Civil War destruction leaves Winter Quarters standing
[1]During the period surrounding the Vicksburg Campaign, Union troops destroyed the other plantations along Lake St. Joseph, while Winter Quarters was protected because of Haller Nutt’s pro-Union position.
- 1863
Union troops use the plantation as winter quarters
[1]Union soldiers occupied and used Winter Quarters during the winter of 1863–1864.
- 1805
Hunting lodge constructed
[1]Job Routh built the structure that began as a hunting lodge and was later enlarged into the Winter Quarters residence.
Products and positioning
A Louisiana historic site focused on preserving and interpreting a surviving antebellum cotton plantation, its Civil War history, and its relationship to the plantation landscape of Tensas Parish.
Recent events
- 2022
Winter Quarters remains closed without a reopening date[1]
Other
As of February 2022, the site remained closed indefinitely after the tornado damage, with no state reopening date or established plan for public use reported.
- 2011
Winter Quarters State Historic Site is critically damaged by a tornado[1]
Other
A tornado struck Winter Quarters State Historic Site on April 4, 2011, causing critical damage to the historic property and disrupting public access.
Sources1 sources
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