The plantation was established in 1831 by Joel Johnson, from a prominent planter family in Scott County, Kentucky. He developed it with slave labor as a cotton plantation. He died in 1846, leaving the plantation's ownership in legal dispute; his son Lycurgus Johnson acquired the title in 1857 and combined his land with his fathers. By 1860, Johnson held more than 150 enslaved African Americans at Lakeport and his other Arkansas properties becoming one of the most established plantation owners in the delta region of Arkansas. The plantation's mansion was built circa 1859 for Lycurgus Johnson. It was designed in the Greek Revival architectural style. The plantation was highly profitable as cotton prices increased with European demand, though the Civil War took a toll on Johnson's fortunes. Confederate forces burned 158 bales of the plantation's cotton in 1862 to prevent its capture by Union forces. By 1864 tax records show the number of people enslaved at Lakeport had declined to 24, as many people left after the Emancipation Proclamation freed them. The end of the Civil War resulted in the emancipation of the remaining slaves. Within a few years, many of the freedmen worked for Johnson either as paid laborers or as sharecroppers, as other jobs were few in the agricultural delta. The plantation suffered several changes after the death of Lycurgus Johnson in August 1, 1876 as a result of complications from a gastrointestinal disorder. His wife Lydia retained control over the plantation until she passed in December of 1898 resulting in the youngest son Victor Johnson retaining possession of the plantation. It remained in the Johnson family until 1927 when Victor sold it to the Sam Epstein family, in which it has remained with the family since. In 1974 the plantation was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The plantation was then donated by the Sam Epstein Angel family in 2001 to Arkansas State University. Restoration of the Lakeport Plantation began in 2003 and finished in 2007 when it opened to the public for visits to the new museum site.
Family history
Joel Johnson is the founder of the Lakeport Plantation in 1831. He moved to the delta region of Arkansas from Kentucky to make a profit from the growing economic boom in cotton and slavery. When Johnson moved he brought his family and 23 slaves with him in order to start a new life in Chicot county where he would exponentially succeed in agriculture. In 1846, Johnson died and the plantation was given to his son Lycurgus Johnson. Lycurgus grew the size of the plantation in both people and land; by 1850 he had 2,850 acres of land and 95 slaves. However, the Lakeport plantation house was not built until 1858 to set on the plantation land. Enduring the Civil War and Reconstruction, Johnson continued to retain ownership of the plantation. Several years after the war on August 1, 1876, Lycurgus Johnson passed away. His son Victor Johnson took charge of the house upon his death. It remained a part of the Johnson family until 1927 when a man named Sam Epstein was sold the plantation.
Life on the Plantation
There is no substantial evidence of the slave life on the plantation; however, there is enough to gain a small glimpse into what life was like for the slaves that lived on Lakeport plantation. As one of the most successful plantations in Chicot county, Lakeport housed more than 88 slaves at the time of Lycurgus' acquiring of the land and house. In 1860, 4,000 acres of land was worked by over 155 slaves. From some records, it is clear that not all slaves on the plantation were field hands, but some were masons, house-hold servants, and carpenters. More slaves were acquired throughout the time Lycurgus owned Lakeport, but the records of these purchases are not detailed. Plantation life was exhausting for those forced to work it; many worked six days a week with only one day off which was typically Sunday. The Lakeport Plantation was known to have slave quarters, but they were diminished when tenant farming and sharecropping took over.
Life after the Civil War
After the Civil War ended and the Confederates were defeated, former slaves were now free. However, while they obtained their freedom, they still held no rights or stature in society, causing issues of placement for the freedman. The Freedmen's Bureau was created and established in order to take address the issue of newly freedman, thus the transition into sharecropping and tenant farmers. Lycurgus worked very closely with the Bureau and represented successful negotiation between him and his freedman to labor on his plantation and continue to grow cotton. Lycurgus was in possession of Lakeport when the war ended and worked to ensure that the success of the plantation continued to move forward, thus negotiating contracts with freedman for wages or a share of crops. He became well known in the county at the time, due to his ability to triumph over the losses of the war, flooding that followed after, and economic depression and become one of the plantations to produce the most cotton in Chicot county in 1870. Today, the plantation itself is no longer active, as it has become a museum, but it is surrounded by cotton fields that are still active and harvested every year.
Restoration of Lakeport Plantation
Preservation and restoration process began when the Sam Epstein Angel family gave the Lakeport Plantation house over to Arkansas State University in 2001. The Delta Heritage Initiative program took over the restoration process which included the entire house from the air conditioning on the inside to the color of the outside of the plantation house. Some of the restoration process included door restoration, the floorcloth, mantel, the rose window in the attic and the smokehouse in the back of the property. The restoration process took almost 5 years to complete before opening to the public in 2007 for public audiences. The house provides a glimpse into the past and what successful cotton farming looked like in southern Arkansas.
