Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 - (Page 31)

The Thomas House, located at Fairfield Avenue at Sheridan Street, was built in 1906 by Edward A. Thomas, president of the Thomas-Ogilvie Hardware Company. 1950s in the Gothic style reminiscent of the great churches of Europe. Many more fine homes stand near Thornhill Avenue. At the corner of Thornhill and Kings Highway is the Roy House, a 1920s mansion and one of Shreveport’s grandest homes, though now a law firm. At Fairfield and Robinson streets is the house that gave its name to the neighborhood. Built in the 1850s, it once stood at the center of Thornhill Plantation, on which much of the old “Garden District” was built during the period between 1880 and 1915. At Fairfield and Kings Highway is the Randle T. Moore house, built in 1921; today it is a city-owned senior citizens’ center and is in need of repair. Other Fairfield area landmarks include the Woman’s Department Club at Margaret Place and Line Avenue (1925), the Line Avenue School — now part of the NSU School of Nursing — at 1800 Line Avenue (1905), the Kings Highway Christian Church at Kings Highway and Line Avenue (1925), and Byrd High School just across the intersection (1926). Despite many changes over the years, the Highland and Fairfield areas together remain one of Shreveport’s best known and most beloved neighborhoods. Hardly a soul in the city has not travelled Fairfield Avenue without admiring the great houses and lush overhanging shade trees, and there are few who have not attended events on the Centenary College campus or at any of Highland’s many churches, who have not dined in the neighborhood’s restaurants, or who have not visited its shops. Not only geographically but historically, spiritually, and in many respects economically, Highland is, indeed, the heart of Shreveport. LCV Eric J. Brock, of Shreveport, is a historian, writer, and urban planner. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on Shreveport and Louisiana history and recently authored a brochure on the Highland-Fairfield area for the Highland Restoration Association, a project funded in part by an LEH grant. Fall 2008/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 31 NEIL JOHNSON

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities New Orleans Immortelle The Historic New Orleans Collection Highland-Fairfield: The Historic Heart of Shreveport The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Perils of the Mississippi River Louisiana Foodways Harvest of Life King Oliver: The Forgotten King of Jazz Louisiana Architecture Jazz Notes Louisiana State Museum Eye of the Storm Louisiana Association of Museums Soul Resin Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

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