The seat of West Feliciana Parish , it is the home of one of Louisiana 's best public school systems , of poor rural blacks living in trailers and one-bathroom cinderblock houses , of stately plantation homes under canopies of skyscraping oaks , of cotton and poisonous snakes and a few stubborn artifacts of segregation , like the array of flapping Confederate flags for sale on Highway 61 , the town 's commercial artery .