As the New Orleans Saints prepare to depart this week for training camp at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, fans of the Black and Gold are about to learn about the many ties that connect Louisiana and the historic property in White Sulphur Springs.
The Greenbrier is an official US Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, which eventually became CSX, owned this property from 1910-2009, when the resort filed bankruptcy. It's debts were listed at $500 million, assets at just $100 million.
West Virginia businessman Jim Justice purchased the property for $20 million and has been restoring and upgrading the Greenbrier ever since, carefully improving while also preserving the past, including several Louisiana connections: Louisiana plantation owner Stephen Henderson built the first 2-story cottage on The Greenbrier's grounds back in the 1830's as a summer getaway for his family.
"The escape from the summer heat of New Orleans is what drew people here to the mountains of West Virginia, plus the ability to take the cure â take the healing spring waters," said Jeff Kmiec, president and managing director of The Greenbrier. "So the long, arduous task of traveling here and building a mansion was incredible, but he loved the area so much, he put the investment into it."
Henderson decided to build the cottage as grandly as possible to show that Louisiana sugar cane profits were just as good as, if not better than, tobacco and cotton money from other areas of the Old South. No doubt the extravagance of the cottage was a welcome sight after the Henderson family finished the long journey from South Louisiana to White Sulphur Springs, which required travel by riverboat, barge and stagecoach.
People around New Orleans may not immediately recognize Stephen Henderson's name, but they will surely know of his historic home in Louisiana, Destrehan Plantation on River Road, which is now a popular stop for tourists.
Henderson spoke so glowingly of The Greenbrier once back home in Louisiana, others soon followed him.
"We have an entire row of Louisiana cottages," said Robert Harris, director of golf and recreation at The Greenbrier. "As other friends came, they wanted nice accommodations, so they built cottages as well. Originally those cottages were called 'Tensas Row' after Tensas Parish (pronounced Ten-saw), but over time, we anglicized the name to 'Tansas' (pronounced Tan-sas, like 'Kansas'). Louisiana has a long part in the history of this resort."
After Henderson died, the railroad bought this cottage back and used it for their most important guests, mainly presidents. This cottage was the Camp David of the day. In all, 26 US presidents stayed here, the last being Dwight Eisenhower. Henderson's cottage was also the official summer White House for 5 different administrations.
Now, it's a tribute to all of those presidential memories and is officially known as "The President's Cottage."
"It's preserved as it would have been in the 1800's: the furniture, the décor, looks like the mid 1800's," Kmiec said. "There are artifacts in there from the various presidents who have visited."
One more Louisiana connection: The state's third governor is buried in a prominent spot at the resort: Thomas Bolling Robertson. He was governor of Louisiana from 1820-1824, then died at The Greenbrier in 1928 while trying to recover from an illness.
