Montegut School - Montegut, LA
N 29° 28.650 W 090° 33.350
15R E 736996 N 3263378
Also know as Montegut Elementary School. Building is located at 1137 LA 55, Montegut LA. Grounds easily accessible and easy to locate to photo.
Waymark Code: WM4WF2
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 10/06/2008
Views: 9
Located in the heart on Montegut. Easy to find and walk around to photo, etc. Here is a brief history I found
Montegut SchoolMontegut Elementary is the oldest schoolhouse in Terrebonne Parish that is still operating as a school. The school is rich in history, and on October 7, 1993, mainly through the efforts of Mrs. Christine Sorensen, a parent from the community, and Mr. A. J. Cenac, the principal at that time, Montegut Elementary was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In January of 1912, the Point Farm Planting Co., owned by Albert Viguerie, sold a tract of land on the left descending bank of Bayou Terrebonne to the Terrebonne Parish School Board for the sum of $100. Mr. Viguerie was at that time the president of the school board. During that same year, in May, the Peoples Bank and Trust Co. of Houma was accepted as the agent for the construction of a school on the site. Mr. W. J. Quick was awarded the contract for building the school in July of 1912. By April of 1913, for the sum of $1132, 192 steel adjustable box and chair desks, five teacher's desks and chairs, 38 draper folding chairs, and 176 opera chairs had been purchased for the school from the American Seating Company. The entire building was completed and accepted at a total cost of $10,158, and was ready for the opening of school in September of 1913. It is believed to be the first consolidated school in the parish. Prior to this, students in the area had attended at least four different neighborhood schools.
The original building was built on cement blocks with an open basement, except for both a girls’ and a boys’ restroom. The basement, said to have had a red cement floor, was used by the neighborhood children as a roller-skating rink. There were four classrooms, each with a cloakroom, an auditorium, a library, and an office in the original building. Two classrooms were added on either side of the auditorium in the late 1930s. It is assumed that the basement was enclosed around 1946 when the superintendent authorized a lunchroom for the school. In the early 1950s, a two-story addition to the back of the school added six classrooms to the school. Since then, the floors and ceilings have been covered with tile and some rooms have been paneled, but the original structure has not changed, the only exceptions being the extension of roof vents and the removal of the chimneys for the coal burning stoves.