Images of America: West Feliciana

St. Francisville and West Feliciana Parish, the latest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series, is a book of 250 vintage photographs chronicling more than a century of life in and around St. Francisville, Bayou Sara, and West Feliciana Parish. Compiled by former Baton Rouge magazine publisher Norman Ferachi and author Anne Butler, the images present a comprehensive glimpse into the history of the parish through the faces of notable folks, memorable architecture, Bayou Sara flooding, and life and times in general.

Butler, a local historian and owner of Butler Greenwood Plantation, wrote detailed descriptions to accompany each image. She explained that the opportunity to publish the book arose out of an ongoing project to digitize more than nine hundred historic photographs held by the West Feliciana Historical Society.

“Norman and I went to the Historical Society with a proposal that, as a public service, we would start a digital archive of their historic images,” she explained. “[The photographs] were becoming fragile … in boxes and files … on tables and shelves and in the attic. Plus they weren’t being credited properly. We wanted people to be able to access old photographs online, and for people with private collections to be able to bring them in and have them scanned.”

Copies of the book are available from the West Feliciana Historical Society, most St. Francisville-area shops, and at Barnes & Noble. (225) 635-6330 or arcadiapublishing.com.