Director

After the first Harris Hotel burned down in 1927, the Harrises moved their operation to this structure.  Known alternately as the Harris Hotel and Hotel Ruston, the upper floor later served as a hospital. During World War II, it housed officers running the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps at Camp Ruston.  From 1975 into the 90s, the ground floor housed Stow’s Bar, a popular gathering place, especially for college students.

The upstairs windows are boarded up and with good reason.  Some local residents swear the old hospital upstairs is haunted!  Numerous accounts of odd noises and ghostly apparitions have convinced many that patients of the hospital still linger on the premises.

Hotel Ruston

This tour offers a guided walk through historic Ruston, Louisiana. The tour includes a variety of historic downtown buildings and also includes stops at places of significant historic events and places that have been lost to time.

Historic Downtown Ruston Walking Tour

US Highway 80 from Ruston to the Mississippi state line is designated a Louisiana Scenic Byway. Explore the history along this road as you see the beautiful landscapes along its path.

Highway 80 Byway

Railroad Park's first three trees were planted in 1896 by Thomas L. Nelson and his son. Nelson had a contract with Ruston merchants to plant 50 trees along Trenton and Vienna at 50 cents each. He had three trees left over so he planted them in the park. One tree died in the 1970s and had to be cut. The others remained well into the 1980s. Before the large trees were removed, their shade brought relief to shoppers and those who watched the trains go by.There is no record of when the fountain was installed but probably between 1900 and 1906. It appears in photos from 1906-07. In 1934, the T.L. James Company renovated the park and restored the fountain. Again, in 1952, T.L. James restored the fountain and built a bandstand and new sidewalks. The Ruston Garden Club added landscaping. In 2002, the Ruston Kiwanis Club paid $5,000 for a new fountain after the original one was determined to be beyond repair. In recent years, the Kiwanis fountain was removed and the original fountain restored and returned to the park..

Early maps of Ruston called this area the "depot grounds." It had been developed into a park by the early 1900s. Thousands of public events have been staged here over the past 100+ years from carnivals and concerts to pet shows and pep rallies.

Railroad Park

The Dixie Center for the Arts began as the “New Astor Theatre” debuting silent films in 1928.In 1932 the theatre was sold to prominent Ruston citizen T.L. James, who oversaw renovations and the installation of the grand chandelier that resides in the theatre to this day. The theatre reopened as the “Rialto,” and began showing “talkies,” movies with sound, but suffered a fire in early 1933, destroying parts of the stage, seating, and the sound and stage equipment. The Rialto prevailed though, and became “North Louisiana’s most magnificent show house” with completely new interior décor a few months later.In 1937 the Dixie Theatre Corporation of New Orleans took over management of the theatre and altered the front lobby to include a street-accessed box office, a confectionary shop, and a segregated entrance. The name was changed again too, this time to the “Dixie Theater.”The segregated entrance was not only an indicator of heightened racial tensions over job competition throughout the Great Depression. Today most traces of this entrance and side stair have been removed, but its story remains a powerful reminder of our past, and how the theatre has evolved to invite people of all colors and creeds into its doors.1956 saw another transformation of the theatre, this time reflecting society’s new obsession with futuristic technology and soon mankind’s “race to the moon.” These changes included the first installation of an air conditioning system, sleek metal “Comet” chairs, and the distinctive neon star above the marquee that still remains. The 1960s would see yet another remodel, before the advent of home entertainment and other newer theatre options pushed the Dixie out of the movie business in 1978.Ruston citizens continued to encourage the use of the theatre for local entertainment though, like the weekly Joe Wood’s Wildwood Express band, the Dixie Jamboree, and other small plays and events, under the ownership of James C. Howard in the 1980s through the 1990s. On October 14, 1993, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places, a distinction held by only a few buildings in Downtown Ruston. By 1994 however, the theatre was in great disrepair, and much out-of-date with current fire and building safety code and the Fire Marshall shut it down.A group of caring locals refused to let the Dixie die so in 1996, the Dixie Center for the Arts came together for their first meeting, and began crafting a vision for the restoration of the cultural landmark. The North Central Louisiana Arts Council (NCLAC) helped DCA receive their early funds with their nonprofit status, and draw up plans for the renovation of the theatre. DCA raised funds in the Ruston community for ten years, won a Rural Development Grant in 1997, and received funding from the state 1999 to aid with the theatre’s restoration.In 2006 the renewed “Dixie Theatre” opened its doors to the world, with the goal of being a rallying point and home for the arts in Ruston, and north Louisiana. Now NCLAC houses its offices there, the Ruston Community Theatre players hold their annual shows there, and the building is open to rentals for concerts, meetings, and other special events. The theatre is owned by the DCA nonprofit and is used by many organizations for meetings, performances, and other special events.

The “New Astor Theatre” debuting silent films in 1928. In 1932 the theatre was sold to prominent Ruston citizen T.L. James, who oversaw renovations and the installation of the grand chandelier that resides in the theatre to this day. The theatre reopened as the “Rialto,” and began showing “talkies,” movies with sound, but suffered a fire in early 1933, destroying parts of the stage, seating, and the sound and stage equipment. The Rialto prevailed though, and became “North Louisiana’s most magnificent show house” with completely new interior décor a few months later.In 1937 the Dixie Theatre Corporation of New Orleans took over management of the theatre and altered the front lobby to include a street-accessed box office, a confectionary shop, and a segregated entrance. The name was changed again too, this time to the “Dixie Theater.”

Highway 80 Byway

Hotel Ruston

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources