Betty, here is what I wrote about our current courthouse's construction and the events surrounding that construction. Hopefully, you, and the other tour guides, will be able to use this information in the presentation of your tours of this magnificent building. Ken This courthouse [the one razed in 1951] with its 1930-two-story addition, served the people of Vermilion Parish faithfully for 60 years and eleven months. Its death knell was sounded in November 1949. In a parish election, 800 voters opted for a new courthouse, while 699 votes were cast against constructing a new one. In the months preceding this election, there had been a concerted effort to renovate this aging structure. While the death knell had been sounded in November 1949, this courthouse, designed by John Hannan, and constructed by Southwell and Stewart, did not go gentle into the night. Indeed, it would be thirteen months before the parish got around to razing it, and more than two years beyond this time period before the new one was completed and was ready to house its tenants. It was not before May 1950 that the building committee looked at the proposed plans for the new courthouse. Some members were not satisfied with the "colonial" style that was proposed. Indeed, the committee was to send a message to the architect, J. Hays Town, and suggest that "a compromise between the old colonial and the modern structure be adopted." The committee also felt that the office of the clerk of court was not allotted enough floor space, and made that concern known to Mr. Town as well. However, by the following week, as noted in the Meridional on June 10, 1950, the committee had accepted the colonial design over the modern one. As much as we take pride in our courthouse's colonial style of architecture today, I wonder what the other plan would have looked like, and if we would have been as satisfied with a more modern structure. A photo of an artist's rendering of the proposed courthouse accompanied this report in the newspaper. It looks just like the building does today. I don't know if the committee's recommendation to increase the area of the office of the clerk of court was heeded or not. This was a most eventful year--1950--both for Abbeville and for the world. Foremost in the news was the Korean War. It began only weeks after the building committee had accepted the plans for the courthouse. The war, and the construction and the occupancy of the new courthouse took about the same amount of time--the war lasted three months longer. In fact, the war delayed the completion of the courthouse. There were some limitations on new structures imposed by the federal government because of the nation's need for supplies to fight this "police action," as this conflict has been euphemistically referred to so often. A similar rationing of and restrictions on construction of buildings was imposed during World War I. If the structure to be built was not directly instrumental in advancing the war effort, the building was not allowed to be built, during World War I. A similar rationing must have occurred during the Korean War, causing certain materials not to be available, at least not at the time they were requested. In Abbeville, in 1950, the parish library was completed and dedicated--a major event for Abbeville. Also, the Bob Theatre was to be reopened after renovation. It had been called the Rex, and still stands, with a mural commemorating Father Megret ornamenting its facade, on Washington Street. Former District Judge W. P. Edwards died that same year. And Abbeville was to get a new courthouse. Returning to the construction of our current courthouse, bids for its construction and for the demolition of Hannan's small, but stately courthouse, were requested in October 1950. In 1949, the voters had approved a $950,000 bond issue for the construction of and for the furnishings for the building. In November 1950, the newspaper reported that the bids were too high, and so yet another delay surfaced. One of those unwanted typos crept into this story about the "old" courthouse. It was reported that it was to be "raised." In late November 1950, the "razing of the present courthouse" was to begin "immediately." The demolition of the jail, located on the southeast corner of the courthouse square, was also included in the $3,170 bid for razing of the courthouse. It was at this time that it was made known to the general public that in the razing of the old courthouse, most of the huge trees gracing the square would have to be sacrificed. If you have seen photos of the courthouse taken in the 1940s, you may remember the number of tall trees on the courthouse square before Mr. Town's courthouse was constructed. We must realize, however, that Hannan's-Southwell's courthouse was about a third of the size of our current one, so space for trees became quite limited. The demolition of the courthouse was delayed because of the need to find temporary housing for all of the offices of the courthouse and the necessity of relocating them before the razing could begin. Initially, the request for $3,000 a year for the use of the Masonic Lodge was considered to be too high. However, by December 16, 1950, the "parish offices" were "scattered" about town, as the "courthouse waits for razing." The resulting housing seems like a déjà vu experience. When fire destroyed the courthouse in 1885, the parish offices had to find temporary housing until another courthouse could be built. Now, as then, the Masonic Temple became the designated site of a temporary courthouse; now, the offices of the clerk of court, the sheriff, and of the assessor were located there. The Masonic Temple, in 1950, wasn't the same structure as the one built following the fire in 1885, but it was and is located on the same site as the one in 1885. Abbeville's new parish library, completed earlier in 1950, served as an office for the veterans' service office and the courtroom. Boy, the floor plans surely must have been different then than they are today! The "old Abbeville Elementary school building"--where the parish School Board office is today--served to house the police jury rooms and the office of the registrar. It was not until February 1951 that the governor gave approval for the construction of the courthouse, and it was not until April that a "courthouse work superintendent" was appointed. The foundation of the courthouse was being poured by that time. In July, bids were requested for the courthouse furniture. In the Meridional, I found no further mention of the construction of the new courthouse until an issue in February 1953, when it was reported that a "lack of finishing materials halts completion of the courthouse." Rationing, of sorts, due to the Korean War, was the cause of this shortage of materials. Finally, on March 23, 1953, more than two years after the tenants of the courthouse found temporary housing, "official business in the new courthouse began." The police jury and the building committee had accepted the building only the day before. "Even the parish prisoners in Lafayette returned to the parish jail" on March 23, 1953, only now they were quartered in the upper floor of the courthouse. Someone must have jumped the gun in having the year 1952 chiseled on the "Marble Memorial Tablet" on the south side of the courthouse; it was not until 1953 that the construction of the courthouse was completed, and the dedication ceremonies took place on May 30, 1953,--Memorial Day. From 1953 to the present--the year 2001--Mr. Town's colonial style courthouse has stood sentinel over Abbeville and Vermilion parish. It is alert to the need to maintain law and order, on the site selected and donated for the courthouse by Father Megret, the founder of Abbeville. It realizes the precedent of faithful service set by the previous courthouses on this square, and vows to continue the tradition with continued grace and duty.