- City:
- Natchitoches, LA
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Courthouses (State & Local)
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Started:
- 1939
- Completed:
- 1939
- Designer:
- J. W. Smith and Associates
- Contractor:
- M. T. Reed Construction Company
- Marked:
- Yes
Description
The Natchitoches Parish Courthouse was undertaken in Natchitoches, Louisiana during the Great Depression with the assistance of funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The facilities were part of the largest wave of courthouse construction in Louisiana history, with eleven total courthouses erected in the period of 1936-1940.
The Natchitoches courthouse was one of only two of these projects undertaken with substantial use of bas-relief sculpture common in PWA architecture. “The entrance to the Natchitoches building is flanked with two huge American Indian chiefs” (Leighninger, 2007, p. 116) and is designed in the Art Deco style. It was constructed for a cost of $196,333.
Source notes
Leighninger, R. (February 1, 2011). Public Works Administration Architecture. In David Johnson (Ed.) KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana. Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 2010. Retrieved from https://knowla.org/entry/495/ Leighninger, R. D. (2007). Building Louisiana: The Legacy of the Public Works Administration. The University Press of Mississippi. Natchitoches Parish Court House. Retrieved from Cane River National Heritage Areas at https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/caneriver/crt.htmSite originally submitted by Susan C. Allen on December 4, 2014.
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Join the Conversation