Photos, videos: A visit to Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson
Centenary State Historic Site, 3522 College St., Jackson, commemorates Centenary College's first home.
The grounds first were home to the College of Louisiana, which opened in 1825 and closed in 1844. The Methodist college, Centenary, moved there in 1945 but closed its doors in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War.
The Civil War Battle of Jackson were fought on the grounds, and its buildings were used as a Confederate hospital. Centenary returned after the Civil War and operated in Jackson until moving to Shreveport in 1908.
Guided tours are by appointment only and includes walk-throughs of the Professor's Cottage and West Dormitory building. Unsupervised grounds are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Visitors are welcome to walk the grounds at this time and picnic. Admission is $4, based on the honor system.
Port Hudson State Historic Site, Rosedown State Historic Site and Audubon State Historic Site are close by and can be visited in the same day.
To arrange a tour, call the Port Hudson State Historic Site, which maintains Centenary, at (225) 654-3775. For more information, call lastateparks.com/historic-sites/centenary-state-historic-site.
The West Dormitory is one of two original structures on the grounds of Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson. The other is the Professor's Cottage house at the park's entrance. The dorm was built in 1837, when the College of Louisiana occupied the land. The Methodist school, Centenary College, purchased the land and began its school in 1845.
A photo of the West Dormitory before its renovation is located in Centenary State Historic Site's headquarters in the Professor's House.
The entrance to Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson. The site is open for tours by appointment only, but its unsupervised grounds are open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The Professor's Cottage as seen from the entrance to Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson. The house is the park's headquarters.
Centenary State Historic Site, once home to Centenary College, once accommodated several houses for professors. This house, known as the Professor's Cottage, is the only surviving house on the grounds.
The bricked pathway that leads to the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Site Manager Daniel Goyer points out where the East Dormitory once stood at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson while walking the path to the old school site's surviving West Dormitory building.
Though the East Dormitory no longer stands at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson, the bottom portion of one of its gallery columns can be seen along the bricked path leading to the West Dormitory building, which is still intact.
Site Manager Daniel Goyer points out portion of a column along the bricked path at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson. The state Department of State Parks built examples of columns in different states of completion to show visitors how they were built.
Dormitory columns were built in a pie-shape with brick created with both narrow and wide ends to form a circle. The state built this example at Centenary State Historic Site.
Site Manager Daniel Goyer points out portion of a column along the bricked path at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson. The state Department of State Parks built examples of columns in different states of completion to show visitors how they were built.
An example of the bottom of a completed column stands next to the bricked pathway at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Centenary College's original bricked pathway, built in the mid-19th century, runs adjacent to the modern pathway leading to the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
The West Dormitory building stands in the distance at the end of the bricked pathway at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
A walk along the bricked pathway leading to the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson, La. The dormitory and a professor's house are the only two surviving buildings of this 19th century Methodist school, which is now located in Shreveport. Staff video by Robin Miller
Site manager steps off the bricked pathway to point out stakes, which are set up to show the parameters of where Centenary College's Main Academic Building once stood. The building was one of the largest college structures in the South before the Civil War and was demolished before the grounds became Centenary State Historic Site.
The Main Academic Building once stood as the centerpiece of Centenary College. It was flanked by the East and West Dormitories. The West Dormitory is the only survivor of these three buildings at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Site Manager Daniel Goyer shows a photo of the Centenary College student body standing in front of the Main Academic Building. The photo is on display in the Professor's Cottage at the park entrance.
Site Manager Daniel Goyer shows a photo of the Main Academic Building during its demolition in the early 1930s. The building was once the centerpiece of what is now Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson offers plenty of picnicking tables. This table is located along the bricked path leading to the West Dormitory building.
Approaching the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
The West Dormitory building was completed in 1837 as part of the College of Louisiana and later Centenary College. It was used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. Today, it is part of Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
The West Dormitory building's chimneys stand as an example of how all of the structure's brick and mortar once was painted red. The building stands on the grounds of Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Traces of red paint can still be seen on the mortar on the West Dormitory building exterior at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson. The entire building was painted red in the 19th century when the building was part of Centenary College's campus.
Centenary State Historic Site's bricked pathway leads into the West Dormitory building, where a guided tour includes a film and looks into a dorm room, Civil War hospital room and classroom. The park is located in Jackson.
The dorm room where visitors are shown a film about the history of Centenary State Historic Site includes a diploma earned by one of the graduates of Centenary College. The diploma was donated to the Jackson park by a family member.
A display case includes memorabilia from Centenary College's baseball days. The case is featured in the West Dormitory building room where visitors are shown a film on the history of Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Centenary College commencement invitations are on display in the West Dormitory Building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
A photo of a Centenary College academic organization is on display in the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic College in Jackson.
Student graffiti is preserved behind plexiglass in the West Dormitory building at Centenary College in Jackson. Site Manager Daniel Goyer said it was tradition for Centenary College students to leave their names on dormitory walls.
Student graffiti is preserved behind plexiglass in the West Dormitory building at Centenary College in Jackson. One student even drew a soldier smoking a pipe. Site Manager Daniel Goyer said it was tradition for Centenary College students to leave their names on dormitory walls.
A photo of the Centenary College student body is on display in the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Church pew-style benches stand outside door along the West Dormitory building's gallery at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Dorm room doors along the West Dormitory building's front gallery at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Looking out from the West Dormitory building's gallery at the empty grounds where Centenary College's Main Academic Building once stood. The grounds are now home to Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
A walk along the gallery of the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson, La. This building and a professor's house are the only two surviving structures on the site of this Methodist school, which occupied the space in the mid-1800s. Centenary College is now located in Shreveport. Staff video by Robin Miller
Guided tours of Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson include this recreated dorm room in the West Dormitory building.
The reproduction dorm room in Centenary State Historic Site's West Dormitory building is equipped with both academic and recreational items students may have had, including a violin.
Books line the fireplace mantel in the recreated dorm room in Centenary State Historic Site's West Dormitory building in Jackson.
The columned gallery of Centenary State Historic Site's West Dormitory building. The structure was completed in 1837, with bricks supplied by local brickmakers.
Guided tours at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson include a recreated hospital room in the West Dormitory building representing a time when the structure was used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. A canvas stretcher can be seen propped against the wall, and a reproduction uniform coat has been placed at the foot of the bed.
Guided tours at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson include a recreated hospital room in the West Dormitory building representing a time when the structure was used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War.
Guided tours at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson include a recreated hospital room in the West Dormitory building representing a time when the structure was used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War.
Guided tours at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson include a recreated hospital room in the West Dormitory building representing a time when the structure was used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. This reproduction canvas stretcher shows how injured soldiers were carried from the field.
A shutter brace on the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Though the West Dormitory building did not house classrooms, Centenary State Historic Site has recreated a classroom inside the structure to illustrate academic life on the Centenary College campus. The classroom is included on guided tours.
Site Manager Daniel Goyer explains the workings of a device used to study static electricity in the reproduction classroom inside Centenary State Historic Site's West Dormitory building in Jackson.
A Latin assignment is on exhibit inside the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Though the West Dormitory building did not house classrooms, Centenary State Historic Site has recreated a classroom inside the structure to illustrate academic life on the Centenary College campus. The classroom is included on guided tours.
A device used to study static electricity is on display in the reproduction classroom inside the West Dormitory at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
The view of Centenary State Historic Site's grounds from within the reproduction classroom inside the West Dormitory building in Jackson.
Indentions in the wooden thresholds at dorm room doorways are testaments to years of students' footsteps crossing into and out of their residences in the West Dormitory building at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.
Though Centenary State Historic Site's West Dormitory building has two stories, the second floor balcony is closed.
The view of Centenary State Historic Site's West Dormitory building from the center of the grounds, there the Main Academic Building once stood. The Jackson site was the original home to Centenary College.
Centenary State Historic Site's guided tours also include a walk through its Professor's Cottage, where such antiques as this typewriter are on display.
Centenary State Historic Site's Professor's Cottage includes a look at this reproduction dining room, representing how professors' family lives on campus.
The parlor in Centenary State Historic Site's Professor's Cottage in Jackson.
The parlor in Centenary State Historic Site's Professor's Cottage features an antique piano.
Visitors can lounge on the Professor's Cottage back gallery while waiting for a guided tour to begin at Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson. Guided tours are by appointment only.
A bricked path leads from the Professor's Cottage's back gallery to Centenary State Historic Site's parking lot.
A final glance at the West Dormitory building in the distance from between the rails of the wooden fence surrounding Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson.