Loranger Methodist Church, formerly at Allman Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard in

Loranger, Louisiana Loranger (pronounced Lo-RAHN-jer) is an unincorporated community in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. Loranger is located East of Hammond, Louisiana, at the junction of LA 40 and LA 1062. The Loranger Elementary School, Loranger Mi ...

, was built in 1915. It was added to the

National Register 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 ...

in 1982. It was delisted, however, in 2015. The church was built in 1915 and was lit by kerosene lanterns with a

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

behind the church to accommodate horses. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

the basement was used to teach the villagers how to preserve food. It is a three-story building amidst a modern Loranger school complex, with a bungalow-style porch and a square belltower with a distinctive spreading pyramid roof. It was built of Louisiana Longleaf Yellow Pine donated by the Genesee Lumber Company, which donated lumber for another church and a school (neither of which survive), as part of making the area more attractive for in-migration of workers for the company. The church became the center for many community activities: "The large sanctuary on the main floor doubled as an auditorium for plays and choral presentations for the bi-weekly 'excursions' of prospective customers the land agents kept bringing in. The auditorium also served for graduations from the school across the street; community service talks by farm experts; and in the 1920s, movies were regularly shown after careful previewing to keep Hollywood from embarrassing the sponsors." With A collection of Genesee Lumber Company historic photos, including of this church, is available at

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

. The historic company is not the same as a different company of the same name in

Genesee County, New York Genesee County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,388. Its county seat is Batavia. Its name is from Seneca word Gen-nis'-hee-yo, meaning "the Beautiful Valley".THE AMERICAN REVIEW; A WHIG JO ...

, which was formed in 1928. Includes video report of its history.

References

Methodist churches in Louisiana Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Churches completed in 1915 Churches in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Former National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana American Craftsman architecture in Louisiana {{Louisiana-church-stub

See also

References