by Wesley Harris
The Lincoln Parish Courthouse, often maligned for its cracker box appearance, has served the parish well for nearly 75 years.
The utilitarian exterior has been disparaged by many, especially when they see photographs of the beautiful classical-style building it replaced in 1950.
The parish completed it first courthouse in Ruston in 1903 for less than $30,000 and lasted nearly 50 years. It replaced a small plain, wood frame court building that had been moved from Vienna when Ruston became the parish seat in 1886.
The charming brick building topped by an elaborate dome and cupola surrounded by oak trees served its purpose when parish offices maintained small staffs. For example, the sheriff’s office of the early 1900s consisted of the elected sheriff and one deputy. The clerk’s office also consisted of two men. The jail sat next door in a separate building.
Founded as a town in 1884, Ruston developed steadily. With new businesses and residents and the growth of Lincoln Parish, the stately courthouse, showing significant wear by the 1940s, was obsolete and bursting at its seams.
World War II ended in 1945 and within a year, citizens representing various civic organizations met with the police jury and requested serious consideration of construction of a new courthouse. Far from meeting the post-war demands of the parish, the old 1903 courthouse needed to be retired.
After the meeting, an architect joined ongoing discussions. Neild and Somdal Associates prepared plans and estimated about $700,000 would be needed to construct the proposed building.
In 1947, Lincoln Parish voters approved a bond issue to build and equip a new courthouse. Shortages due to the recent global war delayed construction so the police jury invested the $700,000 in interest-bearing government loans earning almost $14,000 in interest.
However, rising prices meant the $700,000 plus the interest would be insufficient to meet the estimated cost. The police jury set aside $45,000 in its 1950 budget to make up the difference for a total of $758,000.
The bonds sold in 1948 and a contract was executed with the architect to prepare final plans and to supervise construction. The contract was awarded to Southern Builders Inc. of Ruston in 1949. The domed courthouse was demolished and construction on the current courthouse began in 1950 on the same spot.
In addition to Lincoln Parish, Bienville, Franklin, Grant, Union, and Webster Parishes were either building new courthouses or planning for one in the near future. Each featured architecture typical of most government structures erected in north Louisiana at that time—plain, unimaginative, uninspiring brick squares. Many citizens still lament the loss of beautiful courthouses and abhor the cracker boxes that replaced them.
The Cold War raged at the time and the new courthouse basement was stocked with survival supplies and designated a fallout shelter. Some of those supplies were still in the basement 50 years later.
When the courthouse opened in 1951, it housed 17 entities. With room to spare, state agencies and non-profit organizations acquired space in the building:
–parish assessor
–parish clerk of court
–parish sheriff
–registrar of voters
–parish jail
–police jury
–judge, Third District Court
–district attorney, Third District Court
–Lincoln Parish School Board
–American Red Cross
–LA State Police
–LA Driver’s License Bureau
–LA Cooperative Extension Service incl. 4-H program
–LA Department of Revenue
–LA Department of Public Welfare
–LA Department of Veterans Affairs
–Concession stand operated by Division of Blind & Sight Conservation, Department of Public Welfare
Only five of those agencies remain in the courthouse—the clerk of court, registrar of voters, district judge, district attorney, and police jury. At nearly 74 years old, the courthouse can not provide the space the parish’s growth demands. Other parish agencies, including newer ones like the Office of Homeland Security and Geographic Information Systems, operate in other police jury-owned buildings.
In 1984, a furniture store across from the courthouse was purchased to house some parish offices. Agencies from 4-H and the Cooperative Extension Service to the sheriff’s office juvenile unit have rotated in and out of the building. Today it contains the parish’s most used courtroom.
In 2009, the Police Jury spent $1.5 million to purchase the block containing the “old County Market building,” known to older residents as the former site of Gibson’s Discount. The block bordered by Texas, Trenton, Arizona, and Vienna Streets was acquired to expand the footprint of parish government and perhaps serve as the site of a future courthouse.
Off and on for decades, the jury has discussed constructing a new courthouse on the property, consolidating parish offices now housed elsewhere.
Talk of a new courthouse comes and goes but with little discussion of the idea in recent years. It would be a massive financial undertaking, likely requiring new taxes, something officials are reluctant to promote. The $758,000 cost of the courthouse in 1950 is equivalent to about $10 million today.
Bienville Parish voters approved a 3-mill 20-year property tax in 2010 to pay for a new $11 million courthouse and annex. But Lincoln Parish has a population three times that of Bienville and would need a larger facility if intended to encompass all parish offices.
Engineers familiar with the current building say it is solid as a rock. Any deficiencies are in systems, much like any structure of that age—electrical, plumbing, mechanical, technology.
If and when Lincoln Parish builds a new courthouse, hopefully it will be reminiscent of the 1903 classic beauty rather than a jigsaw of cracker boxes.
