Historical Places: Courthouse Museum, Natchitoches Parish Louisiana Source: The Natchitoches Times, May 1996 & The Alexandria Daily Town Talk, May 1998 Submitted by Gaytha Thompson ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** COURTHOUSE MUSEUM OPENS AS CENTER FOR CULTURAL EDUCATION By Ginny Tobin The Natchitoches Times, May 1996 Plans for the grand opening of the Natchitoches Parish Old Courthouse Museum are in full swing and will take place July 5, the 100th anniversary of its construction. The museum will become an active living, education and cultural center servicing and celebrating the history of Natchitoches Parish and its people. Its purpose is to educate our citizenry, young and old, of the rich heritage in the parish and to instill pride in the community. The first courthouse was built on the site of the present building about 1828 and was in use until 1895, when it was demolished to make way for a new courthouse. The slate roof of the big two-story brick building had begun to leak and all attempts to patch it had failed. The Police Jury received numerous complaints about the old building and decided a new courthouse was needed. The Jury entered into an agreement with Mrs. Ellen Schuman, widow of Theodore Schuman, Feb. 9, 1895. Schuman was to lease her hotel building to be used as a courthouse until the new one was completed. According to the terms of the lease Mrs. Schuman received $35 for 10 months. She also agreed to repair at her own expense the gutters, roof and window panes. The Schuman Hotel was located on the northwest corner of Second and St. Denis Streets, commonly called the "Live Oak Corner," and was known as the Live Oak Hotel in later years. The Police Jury awarded the contract to construct the new courthouse to Patrick J. Gillen of Lincoln Parish June 4, 1895. Gillan submitted a bid of $20,555. The architects were Favrot and Livaudais of New Orleans. Gillen obligated himself to complete the building no later than Jan. 15, 1896, but construction time must have exceeded that time because Favrot and Livaudais did not order furniture for the building until May 1896 at which time Beals and Daniels Company of Dallas quoted a price of $1,625 for all the furniture except the jury chairs. This price included tables, desks and chairs for the offices of the sheriff, School Board, clerk, judge, grand jury, petty jury and the courtroom. In 1933, the attic, courtroom and tower clock were extensively damaged by fire. The firm of T. Miller and Sons submitted a bit of $18,300 to make renovations. This was just $2,255 less than the entire building had originally cost. Included in the repairs was the lowering of the tower steeple room and the roof line covering the stairway. The clock in the tower was damaged beyond repair and was not replaced. In 1961, additional renovations were made which included lowering the ceilings and dividing rooms. This was probably done in an effort to more efficiently heat and cool the buildings. Aluminum and glass doors were installed at that time. In 1976, with E.P. Dobson and Associates as architects, an effort was made to restore the old building as nearly as possible to its original appearance. The aluminum front doors were replaced with ones similar to the original doors. Detailed sheet copper, a weather vane and three clocks were added to the tower and the lowered ceilings were removed. A mazzanine was added above the courtroom to give the appearance of a balcony, an elevator was installed and central heating and cooling replaced the old window units. Dobson stated that they were fortunate to obtain the original plans, but noticed after studying them that some of the walls and partitions that were supposed to be in the building were not. According to Dobson, the builders either changed their minds during construction or it was not repaired after the 1933 fire. When the present courthouse was built in 1940, the Old Courthouse was probably saved due to an act of spite. The committee selected to oversee the plans for the new courthouse was composed of lawyers who did not get along with the District Judge. They did not want to give him space in the new building, so they excluded the courtroom. Robert Ripley printed an item in his "Believe It Or Not" column about the courthouse without a courtroom. Since this old building had a perfectly good courtroom, it was left untouched and was used until a courtroom was added to the present courthouse. ************************************************************************** OLD MUSEUM TO COME UNDER STATE'S JURISDICITON The Alexandria Daily Town Talk, May 09, 1998 NATCHITOCHES -- The history of northern Louisiana and Natchitoches' role in that history will come to life when the Natchitoches Parish Old Courthouse Museum becomes a state museum. Last week, Gov. Mike Foster signed the law that places the museum under the state museum's jurisdiction as of July 1. And although the director of the state museums is "very excited" about the additional museum, he said dramatic changes will not occur immediately. James Sefcik, state museum director, said the quality of the exhibits will be upgraded, and some improvements will be made to the interior of the museum, which is currently located on the first floor of the Old Courthouse. Once a curator is hired, Sefcik said the museum will be open six days a week.