LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. (AP) — A historic old courthouse on the northeast corner of the state is in danger of passing into history.
Sitting on a two-acre public square in Lake Providence, the old East Carroll Parish courthouse’s structure has deteriorated over the years from lack of use and maintenance.
The landmark has remained vacant for the past decade, but East Carroll Parish preservationist Cassie Condrey Lensing said the historic building has the potential to be repurposed for a variety of uses for the area.
“It’s a really beautiful space,” Lensing said. “I think it’d be an amazing arts and music hall. Our local high school General Trass has an amazing dance program and I’ve kind of been dreaming about there being a space for kids to practice music. There are a number of things that could be.”
The old East Carroll Parish Courthouse was added to the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of Most Endangered Places in the State in 2018. The building, named one of the state’s most endangered sites, was built in 1901 by William Stanton, a prominent Vicksburg architect who practiced in Mississippi from 1866 until his death in 1908. The impressive Richardsonian Romanesque building features a cast-iron staircase leading from the checkered black-and-white marbled lobby to a spacious courtroom on the second floor.
But there is a history to the old building that matches its beauty.
The courthouse was the site of the last hanging of a female prisoner in Louisiana, on Feb. 8, 1935. Julia Williams, a Black woman, was convicted of the June 1934 stabbing death of Elliott Wilson, a Transylvania area farmer. The 1942 execution of Toni Henry in Calcasieu Parish’s electric chair is the only capital punishment of a female prisoner in Louisiana since.
A new courthouse for the parish was built in 1938, as part of the Public Works Administration, and is located next to the historic courthouse. The new three-storied courthouse is ornamented with streamlined classical detail including heavy fluting, beveled corners, and horizontal lines cut in the limestone to accentuate the windows.
The old courthouse was later used for offices by parish officials.
The building is located within a new cultural district and included as part of a multi-property National Register district, making it eligible for state and federal tax credits for prospective buyers.
Lensing said she believes in preserving historic spaces because they hold our stories.
“They really show us who we’ve been and how we might be again,” Lensing said. “There’s obviously a lot to learn from in this part of the country, in this region.”
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