Louisiana State Exhibit Museum

Many of us who travel to national forests and parks in the US are familiar with the work of the Civilian Conservation Corp but the depression era programs created by President Roosevelt were broad and far reaching. The Public Works Administration built  dams, bridges, courthouses, hospitals, university buildings, and schools, among other things.  Communities decided what they wanted and local architects, engineers, and construction workers were employed. Many of  these buildings are still in use today, a testament to the quality of the construction.

The museum is one of the PWA buildings. It has an unusual circular design with a courtyard and fountain in the center and exhibits in cases on both sides of an outer ring. Twenty wonderfully detailed panoramas of rural life in Louisiana in the 1930s and 40s were made by artists employed under another PWA program, the Federal Art Project. The figure are made of beeswax with bendable wire frames. The building and these panoramas make the museum a must see spot.

Other exhibits cover the natural and human history of Louisiana including a re-assembled Bour-Davis, the luxury model of a short lived local car manufacturer, and a thousand year old dugout canoe.

The museum is accessible. The accessible entrances are on either side of the building. We missed the four large fresco murals at the front entrance so make sure to go through the inner doors at the front entrance to view the murals in the vestibule. 

 

RVs will fit in the lot if backed up over the grass or parked lengthwise across the spaces.  Museum  32.48023, -93.78583