A Heritage Christmas Wish List: Five Natchitoches Places Worth Remembering

During my growing-up years, there were always special places that defined what being from Natchitoches Parish means to me. In some cases, these places still exist. Some exist only in my memory now.

As Christmas approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about those places and how much I wish they could be preserved in a way that honors those memories. So, here’s my Christmas “wish list” for five places that have meant a lot to me.

Places on the Wish List

1. Kisatchie School: I’ve probably dedicated more words about the Kistachie School to these pages than any other subject. The building is one of the most unique in the parish, and also one of the most endangered. Its roof is failing, which is leading to many other problems. It would take a Christmas miracle to get this historic gem restored, but I’m wishing just the same.

2. Cotton Complex on Mill Street: My early primary school days were spent in the old Warren-Easton Building at NSU. I’ll never forget the horn signaling shift changes and meal breaks from that mill; nevermind the constant smell of fried chicken that wafted over Chaplin’s Lake as the cotton was processed.

Those are memories that my daughter, who now attends school in that same building, will never have or really understand. Natchitoches’ industrial legacy on Mill Street is quickly fading from memory, overshadowed the sexier colonial and plantation eras. Yet it was integral to the town’s character for much of the 20th century. While I’m glad the old cotton complex is being reused for municipal purposes, my longtime wish is that some portion of it be used as a working interpretive center dedicated to the cotton legacy of our area. The Southern Forest Heritage Museum in Long Leaf, La. is a good model for such a center. And the location across from Fort St. Jean Baptiste is ideal.

3. Don Theater. For a boy growing up in the early 1980s, the place where he saw the Star Wars movies will forever be iconic in his mind. For me, that was The Don downtown. Since the day it closed as a cinema, my wish has been to repurpose it as a classic movie theater, or even a dinner theater/club. Some dreams are not meant to be, though. After years of vacancy, the building has been turned into condos. Incidentally, the condos will be open for viewing as part of the Natchitoches Historic Foundation’s Christmas Tour of Homes this coming week.

4. Ford Building: After working my way through college in NSU’s journalism program, I gifted myself a new vehicle: one that I wouldn’t have to drive with two feet or track mileage so I knew when to refill the gas tank. Of course, I went to the Ford place downtown and saw Mr. Harold Matthews, who sold my grandfather every vehicle he owned since the 1950s. The loss of the Ford building to the monstrosity–yes, I wrote it–that currently resides there still inspires strong feelings in me and many others. I guess my only wish here is that I could turn back time on that unfortunate event and help find a way to preserve the integrity of the building’s character.

The Loss of Kate Chopin House

5. Kate Chopin House: Maybe it was because I’m a big fan of literature, but the Kate Chopin House was simply magical in my mind. Visitors could feel its fidelity to the spirit of the Cloutierville community as soon as they stepped through its doors. While this is another instance which would required a time machine to make things totally right, there is still hope for the structure’s memory.

Dr. Julie Ernstein and students in the Master of Arts in Heritage Resources program developed a plan to interpret the site and its ruins, which was presented to the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches. My wish here is that APHN will take this thoughtful plan and fully support its implementation. This is a part of our legacy that is still within our reach to save.