The Seat of Justice for Calcasieu Parish, La - 1850's
Submitted by Margaret Rentrop Moore


Source: Southwest Louisiana Biographical & Historical by William
Henry Perrin; published 1891 page 130 - 131.


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The Seat of Justice.-The first seat of justice or court house was some six
miles from Lake Charles on an air line, but about twenty-five by way of the
Calcasieu River. It was called Marion, but was a small place, and had been used
as a stopping or resting place for drovers passing with their herds of cattle
from Texas to the New Orleans market. It is now known as Old Town, and but for
the name no one would suspect its being a town at all, or of ever having been
the parish seat. After a few years (about 1851-52 ) the parish seat was moved to
Lake Charles, and the glory of Marion departed as "a tale that is told." The
finger of time has written "Ichabod " above her gates, and like Ancient Rome 11
the spider weaves its web in her palaces, the owl sings his watch-song in her
towers."  The court house and jail were moved from Marion to Lake Charles in
1852 by Jacob Ryan and Samuel A. Kirby. In 1872 a new court house was built by
Mr. Ryan, a two-story frame, which is still doing duty as a court house, but a
new one, a handsome brick, to cost $20,000 is in process of construction and
will be finished during the year. The present brick jail standing in the corner
of the public square next the lake was built in 1873 at a Cost Of $12,500.
    At the laying of the corner-stone of the new court house in October, 1890,
Hon. George H. Wells, in an address delivered on that occasion, said: "Our
present police jury was the first to take any practical action toward
furnishing our parish with this new court house, the first to advertise for
plans and specifications for the building, the first to advertise for bids and
contract for its construction, and the first to appropriate the money for its
erection.  It is a gratifying evidence of Calcasieu parish, that our police jury
did not find it necessary to levy a special tax for the construction of the new
court house, and that the money required for that purpose will come from the
general and ordinary revenues of the parish. Indeed the parish tax of the
present year ( 1890) levied on the property of non-residents, though equal and
uniform with parish tax levied on the same kind of property owned by residents
of the parish, is considerably more than enough to defray the expenses of the
construction of our new court house."
    The following figures show pretty clearly the growth of the parish since
1840, the time of its organization: The first record book opened in the parish
was in 1840, a very small book, and which contained all the transactions of the
parish up to 1862. Four deeds of land from 1840 to 1863. Book B commenced 1862
and closed in 1868. Book C closes in 1873. Book E closes in 1876. Book F closed
in 1880 The books all the time getting larger, containing more pages and deeds.
G closed in 1882, with over 600 deeds. H closed in 1883, running 508 days, with
a record Of 492 deeds. I closed in April, 1855, with 651 deeds in 503 days. J
runs until December, 1885, with a record of 428 deeds in 226 days. K numbers 523
in 189 days and closes. L closes in January, 1887, 431 deeds in 206 days. M
records 462 in 197 days. N goes 462 in 171 days and closes. 0 ends May, 1888,
making a record Of 521 deeds in 107 days. P ends October, 3, 1888, 123 days and
556 deeds. Q ends March 21, 1889, with a record Of 531 deeds in 167 days. R goes
550 deeds in 166 days, ending September 3, 1889. S ended January 16, 1890 making
a record of 589 deeds in 134 days. This is genuine, solid growth.