The original campus of

Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi Rive ...

is located along College Street in

Jackson, Louisiana Jackson is a town in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,842 at the 2010 U.S. census, down from 4,130 in 2000; the 2020 population estimates program determined Jackson had a population of 3,707. It is part of ...

. It is operated and preserved as a museum by th
Louisiana Office of State Parks
as the Centenary State Historic Site, offering educational interpretive programs and guided tours.

The College of Louisiana 1825-1844

In 1825, the Louisiana Legislature chartered four public colleges. One of these was the College of Louisiana at Jackson, a small town on the border of East and West Feliciana Parishes. Despite the tireless efforts of the trustees to maintain a college of the finest repute, in its 20-year history, the college only produced 24 graduates. Its main contributions to the future of the campus were the East and West Wing dormitories, two impressive brick barracks-style structures built between 1832 and 1837. One of the key figured in the College of Louisiana was William King, who ran its preparatory school, Mathews Academy. When the college suffered from low enrollment, King agreed to combine the two schools, though doing so was not enough to save the college from sale two years later. King later became famous for his disdain of slavery and for founding the

Elgin settlement Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, a home for escaped slaves who had reached

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

via the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

Centenary College of Louisiana 1845-1861

Several institutions of higher learning sprouted in and around Jackson in the autumn of 1845, somewhat as a result of Centenary College of Louisiana's opening at that time. (Centenary College, a Methodist church-affiliated institution, was founded in Mississippi in 1839; then it relocated to Louisiana.) wit
three photos and a map
With . The Episcopal women's academy, the Southern Institute for Young Ladies, opened the year before, under the direction of Rev. William B. Lacey—who had been a president of the College of Louisiana. The school continued in operation until 1860. The Feliciana Female Collegiate Institute opened in 1847, led by the Methodist Episcopal Rev. Benjamin Jones and his wife. It also continued until the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The greatest event of the social calendar in antebellum Jackson was Centenary's annual commencement. The small town was pushed to its limits at that time, as dignitaries from across the state and region crowded its hotels and private homes for the occasion. More people than usual were in attendance for the 1856 commencement, as it included the ceremony of placing the cornerstone for the college's new Centre Building. Included in this building were all offices, classrooms, laboratories, debate halls, etc. The building also featured a 3,000-volume library, and an auditorium which seated between two and three thousand. When completed, the structure dwarfed the dormitories upon either side (pictured). The completion of the Centre Building marked the high-water mark of Centenary's tenure in Jackson. However, it was fated to be short-lived. Less than three years after the building was completed, the college closed, the vast majority of its students having joined the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. The last entry in the minutes of the board of trustees in 1861 reads "Students have all gone to War—College suspended, and God Help the Right!"

Civil War period

Although no longer a college, Centenary's campus was not altogether abandoned. The preparatory department continued for some time, and upon its closing the campus was transformed into a Confederate hospital. More than 500 Confederate soldiers — mostly from the

Siege of Port Hudson The siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, (May 22 – July 9, 1863) was the final engagement in the Union (American Civil War), Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. While Major General#United States, Union Gen ...

— were treated at the Centenary hospital. Some eighty of those sent to Centenary died there; they were buried in a cemetery on the grounds. After the fall of Port Hudson, Centenary was taken over by the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, and used as a

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...

, supply depot, and recruiting post — primarily for the

United States Colored Troops The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American (colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited during ...

. A large contingent of

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

was sent to disrupt the recruiting practices, resulting in the largest battle to occur within the town limits of Jackson. The Confederates suffered minimal casualties, routed Union forces, and captured ammunition and other supplies. The Union Army suffered nearly one-third of its garrison detachment killed or wounded.

Postwar struggle 1865-1908

Centenary College of Louisiana reopened in the autumn of 1865, in a completely different world than the one that had forced its closing four years earlier. Many of those who had previously sent their sons to Centenary either could no longer afford to, or they no longer had sons to send. Faced with these dire straits, the president of the college would often be away for months at a time. He would go door-to-door, soliciting financial support, or he'd visit as many Methodist congregations as he could, "passing the hat," all to little avail. The desperation reached the point of not being able to compensate the professors. The policy was, in short: if the college had the money, the professors would be paid. To make up for this deficiency, in the late 1890s five professors' cottages were constructed. The sole extant cottage is one of the most visible features of the campus today. Another move made during the 1890s to boost enrollment was the admittance of female students. Women were not originally given degrees or diplomas. They were given certificates of attendance, which, in essence, meant they were qualified to teach school. The first degree was conferred upon a female graduate in 1901.

Epilogue

In 1903, the prominent Methodist citizens of

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, offered Centenary , a brand new facility, and a sizeable monetary grant if they would relocate. Given the college's difficulty in procuring financial support where they were, and the several attractive opportunities Shreveport presented, it was not a matter of ''if'' they would move, but ''when''. This turned out to be 1906, although the college was not there in its entirety until 1908. After the college's departure, the campus sat unused for fifteen years. In the mid-1920s it was used as a tuberculosis hospital. But by 1935, the campus was in a state of extreme disrepair, and on the brink of condemnation. The three buildings had three different owners, two of whom chose to sell the rights for demolition. The East Wing and Centre Building were both demolished, and the salvageable materials from them were sold for scrap. There were many buildings constructed in that time in southeast Louisiana whose materials included those of the main academic building. The Old Centenary Inn—currently a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

—in Jackson was built entirely from the remains of the East Wing dormitory. The West Wing remained standing because its owners had come up with a way to make it far more lucrative than just knocking it down. From 1938 to 1965, the West Wing Dormitory was low-income housing. The campus itself was used as a trailer park. To this day, there are visible remnants of the residences that were here during that time. In the 1970s, the only use the campus saw was a baseball field, which happened to be on the site of the college's baseball field more than 80 years earlier. In 1977, not long before it was to be demolished, the West Wing was saved due to the efforts of many influential citizens in and around Jackson. The State of Louisiana purchased and restored the West Wing, Professor's Cottage, and surrounding . The area comprising the West Wing and the Professor's Cottage was added as Centenary College to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on April 19, 1979. The area was also included in the Jackson Historic District since its creation on December 4, 1980. wit
two photos and two maps

Centenary State Historic Site

Centenary State Historic Site is run by th
Louisiana Office of State Parks
It is a rather young location among the state's parks, and there is much that can yet be done to make it more educationally profitable. It serves not only as a glimpse into the past of

but to early education in Louisiana,

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

medicine, the founding of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, and other topics of local and state history.

References

External links

Centenary State Historic Site
- official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Centenary College Of Louisiana At Jackson American Civil War hospitals Louisiana State Historic Sites Educational institutions established in 1825 Defunct universities and colleges in Louisiana Public universities and colleges in Louisiana Museums in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana Education museums in the United States History museums in Louisiana Protected areas of East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Greek Revival architecture in Louisiana Residential buildings completed in 1837 Education in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana 1825 establishments in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana