For the generations of Black people residing in Cherie Quarters the Mount Zion Riverlake Church was central to community activity. The church served as a place of worship as usual on weekends, but on weekdays the Church transformed into a center for learning. It served as the one-room school house for the community and produced an internationally respected author, Mr. Ernest J. Gaines. Though Cherie Quarters is no longer inhabited by the community that remained there for over 5 generations, the church still holds significant value to the families that once resided there as a reminder of their communal worship and schooling.

More Info

Mount Zion Riverlake Church in Cherie Quarters is located on the grounds of the Riverlake Plantation in Oscar Louisiana. The Church is one of a few still standing structures in the historical Cherie Quarters. The Church was and is used for multiple purposes. It served as a meeting location, center of worship, and a schoolhouse, most famously for author Ernest J. Gaines. The Church is adjacent to the Mount Zion Riverlake Cemetery in Cherie Quarters which is named for the church. Mount Zion Riverlake Church in Cherie Quarters was built in the 1930s and has been preserved for about 90 years. 

Mount Zion Riverlake Church Cherie Quarters

Admin

This tour of Riverlake Plantation includes the slave quarters that shaped author Ernest J. Gaines and influenced his award-wining novels.

Riverlake Plantation was first constructed in 1820 then underwent further construction for a 5 year period between 1840-1845 and finally in 1890. The house is located in Oscar, Louisiana in Pointe Coupee Parish on the West bank of the False River(an Oxbow Lake). The house features Creole style architecture and is one of very few Louisiana plantations to maintain the original pigeonierres. The plantation was home to acclaimed author Ernest J Gaines who grew up in the “Cherie Quarters.” These were former slave cabins on the grounds of Riverlake Plantation. The grounds of the plantation were also home to what is now the Mount Zion Baptist Church and Cemetery which Mr. Gaines and his wife restored and maintained.

Originally constructed in 1820, this well-preserved example of Creole architecture is now part of a privately-owned plantation. This plantation and the area known as “Cherie Quarters” which are behind the plantation were featured as settings in Ernest Gaines's novels "Catherine Carmier' and "A Gathering of Old Men." Gaines is an African American author, and his work Catherine Carmier tells the story of love between a light-skinned woman of mixed racial ancestry and a dark-skinned African American man. Although little is known of the enslaved people who constructed and worked at this plantation, Carmier's work shares some of the experiences of the diverse sharecroppers that followed and the often complex nature of race relations in this part of Louisiana.

Riverlake Plantation

Cherie Quarters is a set of former slave quarters located on Riverlake Plantation. The area was home to generations of Ernest Gaines' family and many other Black Louisianans. Though Gaines moved away from Cherie Quarters to California, the area remained a major source of inspiration in his life. Gaines often visited Cherie Quarters when possible, and included the location in several novels. Though currently only two cabins remain, it is believed that Cherie Quarters was once composed of about 30 tin-roofed cabins, each with two rooms, a window, and a front and back door. The cabins at Cherie Quarters are a few of a very small number of slave cabins to still exist in Louisiana. Additionally, the authenticity and age of the cabins are uncontested due to the age of the nails used in the construction of the cabins, making them an excellent example of what slave cabins were like during the antebellum period.

Cherie Quarters at Riverlake Plantation

The Mount Zion Riverlake Cemetery is located in Cherie Quarters of the Riverlake Plantation. The cemetery remains as a connection between the times of slavery and today. The cemetery is featured in several of Author Ernest Gaines’ works including Catherine Carmier and A Gathering of Old Men. Mr. Gaines felt a deep connection with the cemetery and so began the work of conservation and protection. He and his wife became President and Vice-President respectively of the Mount Zion Riverlake Cemetery Association. Upon Mr. Gaines’ death in 2019, he was buried there among his ancestors as a way to honor the unnamed and forgotten. It is also reported that one of Mr. Gaines’ teacher from his childhood schooling at Cherie Quarters is also buried at the Mount Zion Cemetery.

Located on the grounds of the privately owned Riverlake Plantation, the Mount Zion Cemetery in the Cherie Quarters is the site of a number of  graves belonging to the slaves and descendants of slaves of the Riverlake Plantation. The site is currently upkept by an advisory board formerly led by Mr. Ernest Gaines who is now buried there in honor of his ancestors. Each year the public is invited to visit the site for beautification and to honor those who passed unnamed and unknown due to their enslavement. While the oldest marked grave is dated 1924, it is suspected that the unmarked graves are older and likely contain the remains of those enslaved on the plantation.

Riverlake Plantation and the Roots of Author Ernest Gaines

Mount Zion Riverlake Church Cherie Quarters

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information