ABSTRACT
The early legacies of architecture and cultural landscapes in the American South include remarkable plazas and large, sometimes multi-tiered, earthen mounds built by people of Mississippian cultures several centuries ago. The ensuing histories of architecture and landscapes in the American South were shaped by waves of colonial and national enterprise and the creativity of a diverse array of ethnic groups. Archaeology has revealed their architecture and spatial designs. The architecture of agricultural buildings, often called outbuildings for plantations, varied throughout the South due to diverse influences, such as locality, time periods, ethnic traditions, and commodities produced. The architecture of free and enslaved African Americans increased in the late 1600s onward. Professional painters also offered their services to depict large-scale plantation landscapes. Such works tended to emphasize the architecture of the main house and provided an orderly array of the surrounding built environment.
