The B’nai Zion Temple is yet another building listed on Shreveport’s Historical Preservation Society’s list of Top 10 Most Endangered Structures. This amazing Beaux-Arts style building is one of only 10 still standing in the state of Louisiana. Built in 1914, the temple was home to Shreveport’s Reform Jewish synagogue and later to the Knights of Columbus.
Front Entrance of the B'nai Zion Temple
The Temple’s cornerstone comes from an earlier building at 320 Fannin St. where it was originally laid on July 27, 1869. The cornerstone was opened in 1914 when it was moved to the new location on Cotton St. and included several coins of the day such as a 1/2 dime and Spanish silver dollar, several newspapers from both Shreveport and New York dating from the mid 1800s and prayer books which had unfortunately rotted at the time of the 1914 opening. All the items were returned to the cornerstone when it was laid at the Cotton Street location in 1914. [from: http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/louisiana-la/shreveport-caddo-parish.html]
The Beaux Art building on Cotton St. featured two flights of “monumental steps,” and each side bore five two story stained glass windows topped by Roman lunettes. The interior featured a large foyer and the large two story worship space, a “grand auditorium-like room with colossal composite pilasters, a full entablature and a semi-vaulted ceiling. [from: http://www.isjl.org/history/archive/la/HistoryofBnaiZion.htm]
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, but currently remains empty and deteriorating. So sad to be loosing such an amazing piece of architecture and of the city’s history.
Star of David above the door of the Temple
You can read more about the Temple and the congregation at the websites sited above.
The next in my efforts to photograph the Top 10 Most Endangered Structures from the Shreveport Historical Preservation Society’s list is the Bridges-McKellar house. This amazing old home is located on Oakland St. just outside of downtown Shreveport. I found precious little information on this home in my internet search. However, I was able to discover that the house was built in 1885 and has a large cistern at the rear of the home for collecting water. I wasn’t aware of the cistern when I took this photo, but I will return again to photograph it as well.
Front view of the Bridges-McKellar house
Apparently, it is also believed that this was the first home in Shreveport to have a forced air central air conditioning system. The home is architecturally amazing, a real beauty that it is ashamed to loose. They simply don’t build homes like this anymore. Hopefully, someone will come along with the ability and desire to resore this beautiful home before it is lost forever.
I recently came across a very sad list. The Shreveport Historical Preservation Society’s Top 10 List of Most Endangered Structures. Included on this list is some absolutely amazing buildings with beautiful examples of architecture that you simply don’t see anymore. So, I decided to photograph each of these buildings in hopes of preserving them before they are gone. It is my hope that these amazing buildings will be restored rather than lost forever.
Calanthean Temple 2010
This photo is of the Calanthean Temple, located on Texas Ave. in downtown Shreveport. It was built in 1923 by the Grand Court Order of Calanthe, an African-American women’s association. It was home to the offices of the order as well as the offices of real estate, insurance, druggists, doctors, and other African-American businessmen. The rooftop was an open-air ballroom that held dances, social activities and Mardi Gras balls. Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington played at the dance halls. I am very pleased that plans are underway to restore this beautiful historic structure. You can see other photos of this building in my Architecture gallery on www.FurryPixel.com
Info from
History of Caddo Parish Website
Ok, so this is it! My shiney new blog is up and running. Thanks to my brilliant hubby/webdesigner/not so brilliant author of my “About Me” page- for all his hard work on this.
I am excited to begin sharing with you some of my favorite photos and maybe even some back stories on the taking of the picture. So tune in often for “edge of your seat” photographic fun that leaves you itching for the next installment! ….. Ok, ok, yeah, I know. – - Maybe just some interesting posts and photos and stuff. But ya’ll keep coming back now, ’cause you never know when things could get really interesting…
