The Whittington site is located on a portion of Marie-Thérèse Coin-coin’s late 1700’s
and early 1800’s plantation. Marie-Thérèse Coin-coin’s plantation is historically
significant as Marie-Thérèse was one of the first freed slaves of African descent
to own her own plantation in the Cane River Area. She is also viewed as the matriarch
of the Cane River Creole community.
The site was initially excavated in the 1970’s by Northwestern State University
of Louisiana. In 2001, the National Park Service’s Historic American Buildings Survey
inspected one of the standing buildings on the site. That same year Kevin C. MacDonald
from the University College London and David W. Morgan, then with Northwestern State
University began excavations at the site as part of the Cane River African Diaspora
Archeological Project’s 2001 to 2002 field season.
Excavations resumed in 2005 and are currently still in progress.