| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|||
| |
|
||
| |
|||
|
The People and Places of Baker Baker has a strong atmosphere of community, and its people are fiercely proud of its long and unique history. Baker has been the hometown of Senators and Congressmen, professional athletes and gold medal Olympians. It has been the site of great plantations and homes, gracious buildings and important cultural centers. Little remains of the historic and beautiful old structures and places to bear witness to our unique history, but three places have been designated as Historic Buildings or Sites on the National Register of Historic Places. They are: Leland College, the Cushman-Slaugter Home (Heritage Museum), and the Baker Presbyterian Church. Of the three listings, Leland College perhaps holds the distinction of being the most significant to our history and heritage. Nothing but a few crumbling walls and an entry marker remain of the original buildings at Leland College, but it has the distinction of being one of the permanent sites of America's first college for African-Americans. The college, first located in New Orleans, was moved to Baker on November 1, 1923, after its original buildings burned. The school provided education from first grade through university level for black students. After it closed its doors to students seeking higher education, the school continued as a public school for black students in the Baker area until segregation was finally abolished. Many local residents of Baker attended Leland school in the elementary grades. A more complete history and personal accounting by former students of the school is available in the publication Baker, the First Two Hundred Years. The Cushman-Slaughter Home, which houses the Heritage Museum, received designation on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. The home was originally constructed in 1906 by Dr. William Cushman, a general practitioner, who later became parish Coroner. When he moved to Baton Rouge in 1917 to serve in that capacity, he sold the home to Miss. Carrie Slaughter, a local teacher who lived there until the early 1960's. The home had a succession of owners and stood empty for several years before being acquired by the City of Baker in 1974, to house the Heritage Museum. The home is a two bedroom Victorian era cottage with strong classical influences, and its architecture was rather unique to this rural farming community. For that reason, the building was listed in the National Register. The Baker Presbyterian Church was built in 1898, and was also listed in the National Register because of its unique architecture. The Church is of the Victorian era as well, and has strong Gothic influences. The histories of the Cushman-Slaughter home and the Presbyterian Church are also available in Baker's history book, Baker the First Two Hundred Years. The
Charles E. Heine Memorial Park is an award winning two-mile park along
the Illinois Central Railroad in Baker, and was honored as one of President
George Bush's Thousand Points of Light in 1990. The park was Baker's
unique way of dealing with an unsightly area in the center of the city.
Through memorial donations, rose gardens and flowerbeds were created
to line the railroad as it runs through Baker. The park is the site
of a magnificent light display during the Christmas holidays. |
|||
