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West Wing of the Centenary College
Courtesy of the Capital Resource
Conservation and Development Council
The
"Professor's House" at Centenary College
Courtesy of the Capital Resource
Conservation and Development Council |
Centenary College stands as a monument
to Louisiana's education, being one of four major state Church schools
existing prior to 1860. The other three colleges were the College of St.
Charles at Grand Coteau, the College of the Immaculate Conception at New
Orleans, Louisiana, and Mount Lebanon University at Mount Lebanon. Centenary
College, founded in 1839, had first been located in Clinton, Mississippi,
then in Brandon Springs, Mississippi, before removing to Jackson in 1845.
When Centenary College moved to Jackson in 1845 from Brandon Springs,
Mississippi, it took over the physical plant of the College of Louisiana,
which was being discontinued. The East Wing at Centenary College was designed
by a Captain Dalafield of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, and built in
1832-33. The West Wing was built in 1837 as a duplicate of the East Wing.
In 1857, at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, a large central building
located between the two wings was erected, containing a sizable auditorium,
library rooms and recitation rooms. Although its former campus was a 3-building
complex, now only the West Wing of the main building remains along with
the "professor's house," as it was once known to students. The West Wing
is two stories high, one room deep, with a two-story free standing colonnade
encompassing the south front and east and west ends. Each floor was divided
into 12 rooms, each with a front window and two rear windows. Chimneys
were set between each pair of rooms, an arrangement that was later modified.
Centenary College, then proclaimed as a "church school," was the perfect
replacement for The College of Louisiana. Unlike The College of Louisiana,
Centenary College upheld a thriving record of enrolling students until
the semester just before the Civil War. During the war, its buildings
were used as a military hospital and to house Confederate troops. Consequently,
it was during this time that the Greek Revival buildings of the school
were considerably damaged. After the war, the college's fortunes declined,
and in 1906 the trustees of the college and officials of the Methodist
Church accepted the offer of a 40-acre site in Shreveport, and Centenary
College moved to its present location.
Centenary College is located off Hwy 10 at E. College and Pine Sts.
in Jackson. Operated by Louisiana State Parks, the Centenary College
Commemorative Area is open daily 9:00am to 5:00pm, there is a fee for
admission. Call 1-888-677-2364 for further information or visit the
park's
website.
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