Mon Plaisir was one of the largest plantations on nineteenth-century Aruba. The estate was located in the area that today includes parts of the Swielinckstraat, Sibeliusstraat, and the beginning of the Adrian Lacle Boulevard. During the nineteenth century, Mon Plaisir became associated with aloe cultivation and cochineal production. Historical accounts also state that enslaved people connected to the plantation were forced to search for gold in the eastern regions of Aruba. It is said to be one of the island’s larger landholdings, with approximately forty enslaved people connected to the estate during the Bazin period. In the official emancipation records of 1863, 27 enslaved people were registered at Mon Plaisir at the moment slavery was abolished in the Dutch Caribbean.
Oral Histories
Stories carried by families, neighbors, and elders.
