Alexandria Historical & Genealogical Library & Museum Inc

Location

Image: 

Alexandria Historical & Genealogical Library & Museum  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam non enim. Curabitur euismod laoreet sapien. Ut id turpis a tortor euismod viverra. Etiam id quam ut magna fringilla imperdiet. In lobortis tempor pede. Praesent sollicitudin venenatis felis. Morbi ultricies est et erat. Duis elementum nulla vel turpis. Maecenas est. Nulla sit amet eros iaculis enim posuere malesuada.

Curabitur varius lacus sed orci. In nisl. Phasellus sit amet mauris id tortor ornare ullamcorper. Nullam dui diam, dignissim in, dapibus quis, blandit at, turpis. Aliquam a mi quis dolor ullamcorper adipiscing. Aenean pellentesque sapien vel justo. Duis sem ipsum, vestibulum et, tempor quis, tempor a, sapien. Quisque sit amet lacus. Proin tincidunt orci sit amet lorem. Nunc id risus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Vestibulum ullamcorper fringilla sapien. Phasellus in quam in tellus tincidunt tristique. Maecenas nibh est, luctus at, interdum id, consectetuer sed, sem. Nullam mi nunc, ornare quis, tincidunt nec, laoreet in, ligula. Nunc sollicitudin pellentesque ipsum.

Alexandria Museum of Art

Location

Image: 

The Alexandria Museum of Art, constructed and opened to the public in March of 1998, occupies the Historic Rapides Bank Building, circa 1898, listed on the National Historic Register.

The expanded Alexandria Museum of Art is the centerpiece of Alexandria's riverfront, situated on the entire 900 block of Main Street. The museum comprises of exhibition spaces, curatorial and collection storage, administrative and education space and other public gathering areas.

Through its exhibition program of an ever-changing array of collections on loan from around the world, its extensive permanent collection of contemporary Louisiana art and the state's largest collection of North Louisiana Folk Art, and the Alexandria Museum of Art entices visitors of diverse tastes.

Alexandria Zoological Park

Location

Image: 

General Zoo Information
The Alexandria Zoological Park was founded in 1926, encompasses 33 shady acres, and is home to more than 500 animals. The African Experience: Phase 1, which opened in 2003, and the award winning Louisiana Habitat, which opened in 1998, are two of the zoo's most spectacular exhibits.

The Zoo is owned and operated by the City of Alexandria under the Division of Public Works. The Alexandria Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

HOURS OF OPERATION
The zoo is open 7 days a week, from 9 am to 5 pm. We are only closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

LOCATION
Alexandria Zoological Park is located at 3016 Masonic Drive, Alexandria, Louisiana 71301. We are approximately one mile from the south traffic circle and two blocks from the Alexandria Mall.

USE OF VISITOR IMAGE
Alexandria Zoological Park reserves the right to photograph, videotape, or film our visitors, on Zoo grounds, for self-promotional purposes.
 

Arna Bontemps African American Museum

Location

Image: 

Arna Bontemps - a noted Black poet, author, anthologist, librarian - was born in Alexandria, Louisiana on October 13, 1902. He was baptized at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. Arna, son of Paul Bismark and Marie Pembrooke Bontemps, lived in a typical turn-of-the-century, middle class, wood-frame house at the corner of Ninth and Winn Streets. As a youth he moved with his family to California as a part of the great migration of that period.

Bontemps is credited with writing over 20 books, plays, and anthologies and was considered the leading authority on the Harlem Renaissance. He was part of a core of young Black writers who led the "New Negro" movement. Bontemps wanted a front row seat to view and participate in the stirrings of jazz, theater and literature taking place in Harlem. His scholarly interest in fostering a new appraisal of his race and reevaluation of the Black man's place in American history is just a part of his legacy. His children's books are unique and his poetry and writings convey the rhythms and richness of the African American culture which was to influence a number of writers who followed him. (Edwin Blair. "Literary Habitats." Preservation in Print. September 1996.)

Bontemps' writings were greatly influenced by his memories of Alexandria, his cultural and social roots. As an adult, he returned to the South because of certain changes he observed as "Jim Crow" laws were being eradicated. Bontemps would later write in his novel, Black Thunder, "Time is not a river. Time is a pendulum...intricate patterns of recurrence in...experience and in...history".

Briarwood - Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve

Location

Image: 

Briarwood is a Wild Garden. Its appeal is to botanists and horticulturists-- all of those rare individuals interested in studying and preserving native plants, particularly those indigenous to the South.

During her lifetime, Caroline Dormon received scores of tributes, but the most significant came from a handful of friends who wanted to fund and administer a foundation which would perpetuate Caroline's work with trees and native plants. Several months before her death they suggested that she will Briarwood to the Foundation for Preservation of the Caroline Dorman Nature Preserve, Inc. Within a decade the Foundation completed a Headquarters Building which became a center for educational purposes in the conservation field and a home for a curator. For college, university and high school groups who use the facilities of Briarwood, it has become a mecca for their horticultural studies. Today conservationists and horticulturists from all over the world travel to Briarwood--to walk down forest trails, to savor the beauty of the Louisiana iris bog, to admire the reflection pool, and to enjoy the most complete botanical and wildlife sanctuary in Louisiana.

As a young teacher, Caroline Dormon experienced the joy of walking through cathedral-like pine forests in the rolling Kisatchie Hills of North Louisiana. The inspiration of these giant trees and native Louisiana flora shaped her life for the rest of her days. Saving and preserving them became her magnificent obsession. Caroline's inspiration and education came from her father, a small town lawyer in Arcadia, Louisiana. The family owned a tract of timber, some of it longleaf virgin pine, which they called Briarwood. In this outdoor classroom Caroline's father taught her to know and love trees, plant materials and birds. At Briarwood Caroline collected and replanted her favorite native plants. A feature of Caroline's work became the propagating and hybridizing of native plants, with special emphasis on the Louisiana iris.

Caroline Dormon was the first woman employed in forestry in the United States. Almost single-handedly she worked with Louisiana and U.S. Forest Service leaders to establish Kisatchie National Forest, comprised of 600,000 acres, stretching over seven parishes. As her influence spread, she lectured throughout the South to clubs, Boy Scouts, and other endeavor groups. Professional horticulturists and foresty leaders visited Briarwood for consultation with this dedicated conservationist. Caroline Dormon's pioneering work continues today through the inspiration she has given to professionals in her field and to thousands of others who have come to love the beauty of Louisiana woodlands and native flora. Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Briarwood is shown by tours that are guided by experienced persons who knew Caroline Dormon, and who, through her encouragement, have come to know and appreciate every foot of this forest and its native plants.

Cane River National Heritage Area

Location

Image: 

Cane River National Heritage Area in northwestern Louisiana is a largely rural, agricultural landscape known for its historic plantations, its distinctive Creole architecture, and its multi-cultural legacy. Historically this region lay at the intersection of French and Spanish realms in the New World. Today it is home to a unique blend of cultures, including French, Spanish, African, American Indian, and Creole.

The central corridor of the heritage area begins just south of Natchitoches, the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase, and extends along both sides of Cane River Lake for approximately 35 miles. The heritage area includes Cane River Creole National Historical Park, seven National Historic Landmarks, three State Historic Sites, and many other historic plantations, homes, and churches. While much of the roughly 116,000-acre heritage area is privately owned, many sites are open to the public.
 

Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center

Image: 

The Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center is a 615 seat, state-of-the-art theater that opened August 27, 2004 in downtown Alexandria, Louisiana. The Performing Arts Center is a venue for everyone including performing artists and companies, presenters, businesses, schools, and churches, and offers some of the best entertainment and performing arts in Central Louisiana.

Located at 1202 Third street in Alexandria, Louisiana, residents and tourists alike will enjoy the hottest tickets in town to live theatre, from drama to musicals, dance, from jazz to ballet, and music, from the blues to symphony.
 

Delta Music Museum

Location

Image: 

Previously known as the Ferriday Museum and housed in the old post office, the Delta Music Museum is located in Concordia Parish just minutes away from historic Natchez, Miss. Ferriday is the birthplace of entertainers Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and blues trombonist Leon "PeeWee" Whittaker.

They offer exhibits focusing on the history and culture of Louisiana's and Mississippi's Delta region music and visit the museum’s hall of fame.
 

Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge

Location

Image: 

Lake Ophelia NWR (named for the largest water body in the area) was established in 1988 to protect the important Mississippi/Red River floodplain ecosystem. The refuge was once part of a vast bottomland hardwood wilderness. Levees have changed hydrology, but the underlying ridge/Saale topography supports a variety of habitat types. Bottomland hardwood forest, croplands, fallow fields, moist soil units, and cypress-tupelo brakes are intermixed with meandering bayous, pristine lakes, ponds, sloughs, and the Red River. This variety of vegetative communities in turn supports a diversity of wildlife.

Due to its location in east-central Louisiana, the refuge is served by the Mississippi and Central Flyways. Although mallards, northern pintails, and wood ducks are the most numerous waterfowl species on the refuge, blue- and green-winged teal, northern shovelers, gadwall, and American Widgeon are also common. Primary diving ducks are scaup and ring-necked ducks. Canada, snow, and greater white-fronted geese are present, though less common. Several hundred native species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fishes, and insects are found on the refuge.

Common, though often difficult to see, species include bobcats, alligators, red and grey foxes, turkeys, mink, and otter. More frequently encountered are white-tailed deer, raccoons, fox squirrels, beaver, marsh hawks, and wading birds. Many neotropical migratory songbirds use the refuge at various times. Refuge fisheries are composed largely of largemouth bass, gar, crappie, bowfin, bream species, buffalo, carp, and catfish.

Endangered species numbers are few and their presence is always marked with special interest. The arctic peregrine falcon is an occasional visitor, and thanks to the refuge's three-year bald eagle reintroduction project, bald eagle sightings are common.

The refuge office is at 401 Island Road just north of Marksville, LA. The office can be reached by taking LA. Hwy. 1194 south from LA. Hwy. 1, to Island Road. The refuge itself is 20 miles northeast of Marksville, LA on LA. Hwy. 452
 

Southern Forest Heritage Museum

Location

Image: 

The Southern Forest Heritage Museum, located in Long Leaf, Louisiana, is the oldest complete sawmill facility in the South. This complex is unique in that it is a complete sawmill complex dating from the early 20th century, and that it has the most complete collection of steam-powered logging and milling equipment known to exist. The museum is spread over a 57 acre area. On the property is the commissary, providing an entrance to the museum, the Planer Mill, the Planer Mill Power Plant, the Water Pumping Station, the Round House, the Machine Shop, the Carknocker Shop, the Sawmill, the Sawmill Power Plant, and Storage Sheds. Railroad equipment that can be seen at the museum includes three locomotives, a McGiffert Loader, and a rare Clyde Rehaul Skidder. In addition, one can see many artifacts that were left in place when the mill closed February 14, 1969.

Its mission is to preserve the cultural and natural heritage of the southern forest, and to provide a sense of awareness and pride in that heritage through programs of active public participation.