Old Louisiana Academy
Founded 1808, was first school in the United States west of the
Mississippi. Famed historian Mann Butler served as Headmaster 1812 to
1814. In 1819 became first school in western hemisphere taught by
Christian Brothers, sent under King Louis XVIII. General Firmin Rozier
became Headmaster in 1848, and built brick addition in 1854. School
remained in operation until the Civil War. ~ text of marker on site
"The Academy. 201 North Fifth Street. 1808.
Property type: school. The limestone Academy building is located on a rise
above the intersection of Fifth and Washington streets. Its symmetrical five-bay
facade faces Fifth Street. The central entry bay is sheltered by a flat roofed
porch with paneled box columns. Stone steps provide access to the porch. Double
four-panel doors surmounted by a seven-light transom are sheltered by the porch.
Fenestration of the main block consists of regularly spaced, twelve over twelve,
double hung, sash windows. These windows are set beneath flat arched stone
lintels with ornamental keystones. A two-story, gabled ell projects from the
west wall. This ell features a two-story gallery recessed beneath its south
eaves. The brick ell is fenestrated with six-over-six, double hung, sash
windows. Doors placed in the south wall provide access to the gallery. Two brick
chimneys project from the roof ridge of the ell.
The Academy was organized in a meeting of the subscribers in September 1807.
Father James Maxwell was chosen to be chairman of the Academy's Board of
Trustees. From the beginning, Maxwell planned an academy in which instruction
was given in both French and English. In December 1807, the inaugural meeting of
the trustees took place at the home of Joseph Pratte. By the following month,
the trustees had appointed a committee to prepare architectural plans for the
academy building and to make preliminary inquiries concerning a possible site.
The committee consisted of Father Maxwell, Joseph Pratte, and Judge Otto Shrader.
The trustees purchased four arpents of land near the northwest boundary of
the town of Ste. Genevieve from John Price for $100. The hillside site offered a
panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. Plans for the Academy and the use
of stone in its construction were approved by the trustees in March 1808.
In August 1808, the trustees of the Academy awarded the contract to build the
building to William Shannon, a builder of Irish birth residing in Ste.
Genevieve. This contract read in part:
...the Building is to be fifty feet long and twenty-five feet broad six
feet of the wall from the bottom to the first floor (three feet below and three
feet above the surface of the ground) is to be two feet thick laid in mortar.
From the first to the second floor the room to be nine feet in the clear between
joints, the walls to be eighteen inches thick. From the second floor to the roof
(the rooms also to be nine feet in the clear) the walls to be sixteen inches
thick. There are to be two inside partition walls of stone from the foundation
to the top, one foot thick. One chimney in each end, with two fireplaces in each
chimney, said chimney to go up with said building, the walls in the gable ends
are to be sixteen inches thick. The front of the building is to be laid in what
is called running range work. There are to be openings in the walls for two
outside doors, four inside doors, and twenty-six windows. There are sills and
caps to be made and put up to them all.
The Academy began instruction in 1810. Its first teacher was Daniel Barry who
agreed to teach English, French, Latin, Greek, Mathematics, Arithmetic,
Surveying, Logic, Metaphysics, Geography, History, and Natural and Moral
Philosophy. He was succeeded in 1812 by Mann Butler. After the death of Father
Maxwell in 1814, the building and land was sold at auction to repay creditors.
It was purchased by William Shannon. In 1818, Shannon sold the building and land
back to the Trustees of the Ste. Genevieve Academy. In 1819, the academy
reopened and was operated by the Christian Brothers. The school ceased operation
three years later.
In 1853, Firman Anthony Rozier acquired title to the property in exchange for
a pledge to maintain a school on the premises for ten years. In the same year,
Rozier signed a contract to add a 50 foot by 25 foot, two-story brick classroom
wing to the building. Under his administration, the school continued until
the outbreak of the Civil War, officially closing at the end of summer term
1861. The building served as the residence of members of the Rozier family into
the twentieth century. The first floor of the classroom wing was converted to a
dining room, sitting room, and bathroom. The second floor of the wing was
converted to a bedroom and library. The original rooms of the 1808 building were
never reconfigured and were used as a drawing room, parlor and bedrooms.
In 1934, the Academy and its ten acre site were sold to the Ste. Genevieve
Board of Education. The site was developed as the location of the public
schools, and the mansion was occupied by the Superintendent of Schools. In 1991,
the Board of Education donated the Academy to the State of Missouri. Three years
later, it was purchased by Tim Conley, its present owner. The building was
restored between 1994 and 1999.
The fabric of the original Academy and its 1853 addition is largely intact.
Restoration of the 1853 ell required some baseboard replacement and replacement
of three interior doors. All the plaster in the 1853 section was replaced. The
floors, windows and doors of the 1808 block and the addition are largely
original including 27 of 30 doors and 80 of 87 window sashes."
A basement beam in the 1808 stone building was inconspicuously sistered
during the restoration. All of the original beams remain in their original
position. All floor joists in the 1853 addition are original. Five of the
ceiling beams in the south first floor room of the 1808 block required custom
steel sleeves. The sleeves wrapped the solid portion of the original beams and
extended beyond the termite-eaten ends into the stone exterior wall. Eight-foot
steel plates were installed beneath the original cedar lintels in the 1808 block
as a precaution due to termite damage. Two cedar lintels were replaced; the
remaining 18 are original. ~
Historic District National Register Nomination Form
This building is included in two historic districts. It is listed as the
Old Academy on the earlier
National Landmark Historic District
with a construction date of 1808. The building has been completely
restored and is a private residence. It is open for tours by appointment
only. For further information on the Academy, its history and restoration
including several more photos see the
The Old
Louisiana Academy website.