SPANISH BRONZE CANNON CAST AT SEVILLE, FEBRUARY 9, 1787 DISMOUNTED ROM FORT TORO, GUANTANAMO BAY CUBA, IN BOMBARDMENT BY U.S. NAVY, JUNE 1ST, 1898 RECOVERED JUNE 7TH 1899, BY LIEUT. COMMANDER...
A native of San Augustine County, William Henry Stark (1851-1936) lived in Burkeville and Newton before moving to Orange in 1870. Here he worked in the early area sawmills and became acquainted...
In the early morning hours of October 20th, 1895, on the 300 block of Morgan St., near the corner of Bermuda St., a fire started that would eventually destroy about 200 homes and businesses in...
Algiers Point evolved from the plantation of Barthelemy Duverjé. The Duverjé home was built c. 1812-16, and served as the Algiers Courthouse from 1866. It was destroyed by the Great Fire...
In the 1720s, at a spot of land now eroded by the river, stood the barracks where enslaved Africans from the Senegal-Gambia region, were held before being ferried across the river to the...
The second World War catapulted Orange into a period of unparalleled industrial growth. In 1940, as the nation prepared for possible entry into the war, the U.S. Navy Office of Shipbuilding...
On September 9, 1940, a federal contract worth $82 million was issued to the Consolidated Steel Company to construct 12 Fletcher class naval destroyers here in Orange, Texas. This and...
In 1859, three brothers, Samuel, David and John Levingston, arrived in Orange from Ireland and purchased an existing shipyard, where they built wooden ships for more than thirty years. The some of...
Orange's location at a bend in the Sabine River, adjacent to the immense virgin pine forests of southeast Texas, made it an ideal site for shipbuilding. However, by 1930 all of the...
In 1903, Mesard LaGrange donated an acre for a one-room schoolhouse at this site, and in 1913 offered to donate 9 more acres for an expansion of the school. The School Board at the time...
The original site of St. Charles Academy was the northeast corner of Ryan and Kirby, part of the Roman Catholic complex of church, convent and school destroyed in the Great Fire of 1910. Opening...
Area congregations constructed a two-story orphanage in 1899 that housed up to 150 children at a time. This location was selected for the wholesome, rural character of the setting. The landmark...
Four important landmarks once stood here, part of an unbroken line of buildings from Railroad Avenue to Clarence Street. The Weber Building housed professional offices and was the center of...
One block from this site stood Ball's Auditorium from 1945 to 1995. Here, Reginald Ball, Sr. operated a trade school to help returning World War II African- American veterans obtain jobs through...
At least four railroad stations were located in Lake Charles, all of which have been lost. On Railroad Avenue at Bilbo were passenger and freight stations (circa 1880) for Louisiana Western...
In 1879 the Rev. Andrew Peddy helped organize this congregation with 18 charter members. They met in the frame Orange County courthouse and were served for a time by missionary preachers. Sarah A....
At the termination of World War II, the United States had the largest naval force of any country in history. Prudent military leaders decided against scrapping surplus vessels, in favor...
Joe Weaver established Joseph Weaver and Son Shipyard in Orange in 1897. George Levingston, later founder of Levingston Shipbuilding Company, acquired an interest in Weaver and Son in 1898, and...
According to a famous story, a Louisiana Black Bear was the inspiration for the first “teddy bear.” In 1902, President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was hunting in Louisiana and Mississippi. The hunt...