diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 9cc2b86c05cde..b93f1c2519b9b 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ cache:
   ccache: true
   directories:
     - $HOME/.conda_packages
-    - $HOME/.ccache
 
 matrix:
   fast_finish: true
@@ -56,6 +55,9 @@ matrix:
     before_script:
     - export CC="gcc-4.9"
     - export CXX="g++-4.9"
+    - export ARROW_TRAVIS_USE_TOOLCHAIN=1
+    - export ARROW_TRAVIS_VALGRIND=1
+    - export ARROW_TRAVIS_PLASMA=1
     - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh
     script:
     - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh
@@ -66,6 +68,8 @@ matrix:
     cache:
     addons:
     before_script:
+    - export ARROW_TRAVIS_USE_TOOLCHAIN=1
+    - export ARROW_TRAVIS_PLASMA=1
     - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh
     script:
     - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh
@@ -120,27 +124,6 @@ matrix:
     - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_before_script_c_glib.sh
     script:
     - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_script_c_glib.sh
-  - compiler: gcc
-    language: cpp
-    os: linux
-    group: deprecated
-    before_script:
-    - export CC="gcc-4.9"
-    - export CXX="g++-4.9"
-    - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh
-    script:
-    - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh
-    - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_script_plasma.sh
-  - compiler: clang
-    osx_image: xcode6.4
-    os: osx
-    cache:
-    addons:
-    before_script:
-    - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh
-    script:
-    - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh
-    - $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_script_plasma.sh
 
 before_install:
 - ulimit -c unlimited -S
diff --git a/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh b/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh
index e250e705f1fbd..a1697dae59fbf 100755
--- a/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh
+++ b/ci/travis_before_script_cpp.sh
@@ -15,22 +15,33 @@
 
 set -ex
 
+source $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_env_common.sh
+
 if [ "$1" == "--only-library" ]; then
   only_library_mode=yes
 else
   only_library_mode=no
+  source $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_install_conda.sh
 fi
 
-source $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_env_common.sh
-
-if [ $only_library_mode == "no" ]; then
-  # C++ toolchain
-  export CPP_TOOLCHAIN=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/cpp-toolchain
-  export RAPIDJSON_HOME=$CPP_TOOLCHAIN
-
+if [ "$ARROW_TRAVIS_USE_TOOLCHAIN" == "1" ]; then
   # Set up C++ toolchain from conda-forge packages for faster builds
-  source $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_install_conda.sh
-  conda create -y -q -p $CPP_TOOLCHAIN python=2.7 rapidjson
+  conda create -y -q -p $CPP_TOOLCHAIN python=2.7 \
+        jemalloc=4.4.0 \
+        nomkl \
+        boost-cpp \
+        rapidjson \
+        flatbuffers \
+        gflags \
+        lz4-c \
+        snappy \
+        zstd \
+        brotli \
+        zlib \
+        cmake \
+        curl \
+        thrift-cpp \
+        ninja
 fi
 
 if [ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "osx" ]; then
@@ -45,7 +56,6 @@ pushd $ARROW_CPP_BUILD_DIR
 CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS="\
 -DARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=ON \
 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$ARROW_CPP_INSTALL \
--DARROW_PLASMA=ON \
 -DARROW_NO_DEPRECATED_API=ON"
 CMAKE_LINUX_FLAGS=""
 CMAKE_OSX_FLAGS=""
@@ -60,8 +70,20 @@ else
   # also in the manylinux1 image.
   CMAKE_LINUX_FLAGS="\
 $CMAKE_LINUX_FLAGS \
--DARROW_JEMALLOC=ON \
--DARROW_TEST_MEMCHECK=ON"
+-DARROW_JEMALLOC=ON"
+fi
+
+# Use Ninja for faster builds when using toolchain
+if [ $ARROW_TRAVIS_USE_TOOLCHAIN == "1" ]; then
+  CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS="$CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS -GNinja"
+fi
+
+if [ $ARROW_TRAVIS_PLASMA == "1" ]; then
+  CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS="$CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS -DARROW_PLASMA=ON"
+fi
+
+if [ $ARROW_TRAVIS_VALGRIND == "1" ]; then
+  CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS="$CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS -DARROW_TEST_MEMCHECK=ON"
 fi
 
 if [ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "linux" ]; then
@@ -76,7 +98,7 @@ else
           $ARROW_CPP_DIR
 fi
 
-make VERBOSE=1 -j4
-make install
+$TRAVIS_MAKE -j4
+$TRAVIS_MAKE install
 
 popd
diff --git a/ci/travis_env_common.sh b/ci/travis_env_common.sh
index a2e591014cfd3..4122eacaa2ee3 100755
--- a/ci/travis_env_common.sh
+++ b/ci/travis_env_common.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,19 @@ export ARROW_CPP_INSTALL=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/cpp-install
 export ARROW_CPP_BUILD_DIR=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/cpp-build
 export ARROW_C_GLIB_INSTALL=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/c-glib-install
 
+if [ "$ARROW_TRAVIS_USE_TOOLCHAIN" == "1" ]; then
+  # C++ toolchain
+  export CPP_TOOLCHAIN=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/cpp-toolchain
+  export ARROW_BUILD_TOOLCHAIN=$CPP_TOOLCHAIN
+  export BOOST_ROOT=$CPP_TOOLCHAIN
+
+  export PATH=$CPP_TOOLCHAIN/bin:$PATH
+  export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$CPP_TOOLCHAIN/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+  export TRAVIS_MAKE=ninja
+else
+  export TRAVIS_MAKE=make
+fi
+
 if [ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "osx" ]; then
   export GOPATH=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/gopath
 fi
diff --git a/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh b/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh
index c368a1daeddb9..a4f6b056d9de4 100755
--- a/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh
+++ b/ci/travis_script_cpp.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 set -e
 
-: ${CPP_BUILD_DIR=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/cpp-build}
+source $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_env_common.sh
 
 # Check licenses according to Apache policy
 git archive HEAD --prefix=apache-arrow/ --output=arrow-src.tar.gz
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ git archive HEAD --prefix=apache-arrow/ --output=arrow-src.tar.gz
 
 pushd $CPP_BUILD_DIR
 
-make lint
+$TRAVIS_MAKE lint
 
 # ARROW-209: checks depending on the LLVM toolchain are disabled temporarily
 # until we are able to install the full LLVM toolchain in Travis CI again
diff --git a/ci/travis_script_plasma.sh b/ci/travis_script_plasma.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index fa384ade89c2f..0000000000000
--- a/ci/travis_script_plasma.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,97 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-#  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-#  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-#  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-#  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-#  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-#  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-#  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-#  limitations under the License. See accompanying LICENSE file.
-
-set -e
-
-source $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_env_common.sh
-
-export ARROW_HOME=$ARROW_CPP_INSTALL
-export PYARROW_WITH_PLASMA=1
-
-pushd $ARROW_PYTHON_DIR
-
-function build_arrow_libraries() {
-  CPP_BUILD_DIR=$1
-  CPP_DIR=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/cpp
-
-  mkdir $CPP_BUILD_DIR
-  pushd $CPP_BUILD_DIR
-
-  cmake -DARROW_BUILD_TESTS=off \
-        -DARROW_PYTHON=on \
-        -DARROW_PLASMA=on \
-        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$2 \
-        $CPP_DIR
-
-  make -j4
-  make install
-
-  popd
-}
-
-python_version_tests() {
-  PYTHON_VERSION=$1
-  CONDA_ENV_DIR=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/pyarrow-test-$PYTHON_VERSION
-
-  export ARROW_HOME=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/arrow-install-$PYTHON_VERSION
-  export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ARROW_HOME/lib:$PARQUET_HOME/lib
-
-  conda create -y -q -p $CONDA_ENV_DIR python=$PYTHON_VERSION cmake curl
-  source activate $CONDA_ENV_DIR
-
-  python --version
-  which python
-
-  # faster builds, please
-  conda install -y -q nomkl
-
-  # Expensive dependencies install from Continuum package repo
-  conda install -y -q pip numpy pandas cython
-
-  # Build C++ libraries
-  build_arrow_libraries arrow-build-$PYTHON_VERSION $ARROW_HOME
-
-  # Other stuff pip install
-  pip install -r requirements.txt
-
-  python setup.py build_ext --inplace
-
-  python -m pytest -vv -r sxX pyarrow
-
-  # Build documentation once
-  if [[ "$PYTHON_VERSION" == "3.6" ]]
-  then
-      conda install -y -q --file=doc/requirements.txt
-      python setup.py build_sphinx -s doc/source
-  fi
-
-  # Build and install pyarrow
-  pushd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/python
-    python setup.py install
-  popd
-
-  # Run Plasma tests
-  pushd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/python
-    python -m pytest pyarrow/tests/test_plasma.py
-    if [ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "linux" ]; then
-      PLASMA_VALGRIND=1 python -m pytest pyarrow/tests/test_plasma.py
-    fi
-  popd
-}
-
-# run tests for python 2.7 and 3.6
-python_version_tests 2.7
-python_version_tests 3.6
-
-popd
diff --git a/ci/travis_script_python.sh b/ci/travis_script_python.sh
index fdb5ad6a62c93..dcba78273caa7 100755
--- a/ci/travis_script_python.sh
+++ b/ci/travis_script_python.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-
 #  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 #  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 #  You may obtain a copy of the License at
@@ -17,26 +16,14 @@ set -e
 source $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/ci/travis_env_common.sh
 
 export ARROW_HOME=$ARROW_CPP_INSTALL
-export PYARROW_WITH_PLASMA=1
-
-pushd $ARROW_PYTHON_DIR
 export PARQUET_HOME=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/parquet-env
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ARROW_HOME/lib:$PARQUET_HOME/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 
 build_parquet_cpp() {
   export PARQUET_ARROW_VERSION=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
-  conda create -y -q -p $PARQUET_HOME python=3.6 cmake curl
-  source activate $PARQUET_HOME
-
-  # In case some package wants to download the MKL
-  conda install -y -q nomkl
-
-  conda install -y -q thrift-cpp snappy zlib brotli boost
 
-  export BOOST_ROOT=$PARQUET_HOME
-  export SNAPPY_HOME=$PARQUET_HOME
-  export THRIFT_HOME=$PARQUET_HOME
-  export ZLIB_HOME=$PARQUET_HOME
-  export BROTLI_HOME=$PARQUET_HOME
+  # $CPP_TOOLCHAIN set up in before_script_cpp
+  export PARQUET_BUILD_TOOLCHAIN=$CPP_TOOLCHAIN
 
   PARQUET_DIR=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/parquet
   mkdir -p $PARQUET_DIR
@@ -48,37 +35,39 @@ build_parquet_cpp() {
   cd build-dir
 
   cmake \
+      -GNinja \
       -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug \
       -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PARQUET_HOME \
+      -DPARQUET_BOOST_USE_SHARED=off \
       -DPARQUET_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=off \
       -DPARQUET_BUILD_EXECUTABLES=off \
-      -DPARQUET_ZLIB_VENDORED=off \
-      -DPARQUET_BUILD_TESTS=on \
+      -DPARQUET_BUILD_TESTS=off \
       ..
 
-  make -j${CPU_COUNT}
-  make install
+  ninja
+  ninja install
 
   popd
 }
 
 build_parquet_cpp
 
-function build_arrow_libraries() {
-  CPP_BUILD_DIR=$1
-  CPP_DIR=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/cpp
+function rebuild_arrow_libraries() {
+  pushd $ARROW_CPP_BUILD_DIR
 
-  mkdir $CPP_BUILD_DIR
-  pushd $CPP_BUILD_DIR
+  # Clear out prior build files
+  rm -rf *
 
-  cmake -DARROW_BUILD_TESTS=off \
+  cmake -GNinja \
+        -DARROW_BUILD_TESTS=off \
+        -DARROW_BUILD_UTILITIES=off \
         -DARROW_PLASMA=on \
         -DARROW_PYTHON=on \
-        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$2 \
-        $CPP_DIR
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$ARROW_HOME \
+        $ARROW_CPP_DIR
 
-  make -j4
-  make install
+  ninja
+  ninja install
 
   popd
 }
@@ -87,9 +76,6 @@ python_version_tests() {
   PYTHON_VERSION=$1
   CONDA_ENV_DIR=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/pyarrow-test-$PYTHON_VERSION
 
-  export ARROW_HOME=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/arrow-install-$PYTHON_VERSION
-  export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ARROW_HOME/lib:$PARQUET_HOME/lib
-
   conda create -y -q -p $CONDA_ENV_DIR python=$PYTHON_VERSION cmake curl
   source activate $CONDA_ENV_DIR
 
@@ -103,27 +89,35 @@ python_version_tests() {
   conda install -y -q pip numpy pandas cython
 
   # Build C++ libraries
-  build_arrow_libraries arrow-build-$PYTHON_VERSION $ARROW_HOME
+  rebuild_arrow_libraries
 
   # Other stuff pip install
+  pushd $ARROW_PYTHON_DIR
   pip install -r requirements.txt
-
-  python setup.py build_ext --inplace --with-parquet
+  python setup.py build_ext --with-parquet --with-plasma \
+         install --single-version-externally-managed --record=record.text
+  popd
 
   python -c "import pyarrow.parquet"
+  python -c "import pyarrow.plasma"
+
+  if [ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "linux" ]; then
+    export PLASMA_VALGRIND=1
+  fi
 
-  python -m pytest -vv -r sxX pyarrow --parquet
+  PYARROW_PATH=$CONDA_PREFIX/lib/python$PYTHON_VERSION/site-packages/pyarrow
+  python -m pytest -vv -r sxX -s $PYARROW_PATH --parquet
 
+  pushd $ARROW_PYTHON_DIR
   # Build documentation once
   if [[ "$PYTHON_VERSION" == "3.6" ]]
   then
       conda install -y -q --file=doc/requirements.txt
       python setup.py build_sphinx -s doc/source
   fi
+  popd
 }
 
 # run tests for python 2.7 and 3.6
 python_version_tests 2.7
 python_version_tests 3.6
-
-popd
diff --git a/cpp/.gitignore b/cpp/.gitignore
index 4910544ec87cd..ec846b35ba61a 100644
--- a/cpp/.gitignore
+++ b/cpp/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,20 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
 thirdparty/
 CMakeFiles/
 CMakeCache.txt
diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 2891a5d76186c..41af1e16ce28d 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -582,20 +582,6 @@ if (ARROW_STATIC_LINK_LIBS)
   add_dependencies(arrow_dependencies ${ARROW_STATIC_LINK_LIBS})
 endif()
 
-set(ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS
-  arrow_static
-  ${ARROW_STATIC_LINK_LIBS}
-  gtest
-  gtest_main)
-
-if(NOT MSVC)
-  set(ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS
-    ${ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS}
-    ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS})
-endif()
-
-set(ARROW_TEST_LINK_LIBS ${ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS})
-
 set(ARROW_BENCHMARK_LINK_LIBS
   arrow_static
   arrow_benchmark_main
@@ -618,6 +604,20 @@ if (NOT MSVC)
     ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS})
 endif()
 
+set(ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS
+  arrow_static
+  ${ARROW_STATIC_LINK_LIBS}
+  gtest
+  gtest_main)
+
+if(NOT MSVC)
+  set(ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS
+    ${ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS}
+    ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS})
+endif()
+
+set(ARROW_TEST_LINK_LIBS ${ARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS})
+
 if (ARROW_JEMALLOC)
   add_definitions(-DARROW_JEMALLOC)
   # In the case that jemalloc is only available as a shared library also use it to
diff --git a/cpp/src/plasma/.gitignore b/cpp/src/plasma/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..163b5c56e91a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/plasma/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+*_generated.h
diff --git a/python/doc/source/api.rst b/python/doc/source/api.rst
index 780aa4839610f..6554465466a55 100644
--- a/python/doc/source/api.rst
+++ b/python/doc/source/api.rst
@@ -225,7 +225,6 @@ In-Memory Object Store
    ObjectID
    PlasmaClient
    PlasmaBuffer
-   MutablePlasmaBuffer
 
 .. currentmodule:: pyarrow.parquet
 
diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
index 7425b71916001..be0e26b92a876 100644
--- a/python/setup.py
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ def run(self):
     user_options = ([('extra-cmake-args=', None, 'extra arguments for CMake'),
                      ('build-type=', None, 'build type (debug or release)'),
                      ('with-parquet', None, 'build the Parquet extension'),
+                     ('with-plasma', None, 'build the Plasma extension'),
                      ('bundle-arrow-cpp', None,
                       'bundle the Arrow C++ libraries')] +
                     _build_ext.user_options)
@@ -101,14 +102,13 @@ def initialize_options(self):
             os.environ.get('PYARROW_WITH_PARQUET', '0'))
         self.with_plasma = strtobool(
             os.environ.get('PYARROW_WITH_PLASMA', '0'))
-        if self.with_plasma and "plasma" not in self.CYTHON_MODULE_NAMES:
-            self.CYTHON_MODULE_NAMES.append("plasma")
         self.bundle_arrow_cpp = strtobool(
             os.environ.get('PYARROW_BUNDLE_ARROW_CPP', '0'))
 
     CYTHON_MODULE_NAMES = [
         'lib',
-        '_parquet']
+        '_parquet',
+        'plasma']
 
     def _run_cmake(self):
         # The directory containing this setup.py