Located in Convent, Louisiana, on the east bank Mississippi River, Manresa House of Retreats was built around 1830. Originally named Jefferson College after Thomas Jefferson, it was a nonsectarian institution of higher learning where, prior to the Civil War, many wealthy Louisiana planters’ sons enrolled to receive a classical education. The Greek-revival design main building survived the Civil War as a barracks for federal troops. Manresa was purchased in 1864 by Valcour Aime, brother-in-law to Oak Alley Plantation owner, Jacques T. Roman III. Aime was estimated to be the wealthiest man in the South at the time. He donated the property and school buildings of Jefferson College to the Catholic Marist Fathers who again ran the school as a college. In 1931, Jesuit priests took over the school. Today the Jesuits operate Manresa as a retreat facility for laymen of all denominations. You may see men walking the grounds on retreat, where they observe silence and reflect on their lives for several days at a time. This 100-plus year-old alley of oaks, named after St. Joseph (husband of Mary mother of Jesus), is located across the highway between the main building and the Mississippi River levee. A second, younger alley, less than 50 years old, is just a few hundred feet upriver from the older alley. Private facility, but visitors can walk among the trees on the riverside of the grounds.