Centenary College of Louisiana at Jackson - Epilogue

Epilogue

In 1903, the prominent Methodist citizens of Shreveport, Louisiana offered Centenary 17 acres (69,000 m2), 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 sold for scrap. There were many buildings constructed in that time from Jackson to New Orleans whose materials included those of the Main Academic Building. The Old Centenary Inn—currently a bed and breakfast—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 43 acres (170,000 m2). The West Wing was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and Centenary State Historic Site was born.