The Builders

The Builders: Six Master Carpenters Who Shaped Louisiana’s Antebellum Lafourche Country By David D. Plater About the Book Between 1828 and 1850, antebellum Louisiana experienced a period of immense economic and population growth. During this era of unprecedented change, six master carpenters, all native to other parts of the United States, migrated to the Lafourche region of southeast Louisiana. In The Builders, author David Plater dives deep into the archives to provide detailed narratives of the lives and careers of these craftsmen as they worked in and around the bayou towns of the Mississippi River Delta. The stories of each man—told through court records, police jury minutes, succession records, and beyond—demonstrate how a relatively unpopulated region came to be a thriving center for trade. What is more, Plater shows how each man’s background and expertise contributed to the architecture that came to define antebellum Louisiana. About the Author After growing up on Acadia Plantation near Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, David Plater graduated from colleges in Massachusetts and New Orleans before practicing maritime law. He then taught social studies at Metairie Park Country Day School and acquired his master’s in history at Tulane University. Teaching was followed by management of the family plantation. Since 2004 Plater has pursued interests in historic preservation, particularly the research in and writing about the history of the American South. Praise for The Builders “A valuable contribution to Louisiana scholarship, David D. Plater’s The Builders brings to life important figures in the making of the Lafourche country and City of Thibodaux, during an era when architecture transitioned from a master craft to an academic profession. Readers will come away with a new understanding of how these places came to be, and the people behind them.” —Richard Campanella, author, geographer, and associate dean for research, Tulane University School of Architecture and Built Environment "The Builders is a wonderful work with broad appeal. It is very well written and based upon solid research, a blend of geography, history, genealogy, and engineering. While the principal emphasis is on Lafourche and neighboring parishes, it is also the story in microcosm of what was happening elsewhere in post Jacksonian America.” —James F. Sefcik, independent historian and retired Director of the Louisiana State Museum © 2026 David D. Plater 978-1-959569-36-7 | Paperback | 194 pp. | 6" x 9" | June 9, 2026