National Registry Information on
the Ferguson Library Building The Webster Parish Library
Building is set in a pretentious twentieth century
suburban neighborhood of Minden. The two story cement
stucco building is seven bays wide with arched
fenestration on the first floor and double arched
fenestration on the second. The red tile hip roof has
extended rafter ends. Evidently there was originally a
dining room, living room, kitchen, central stair hall,
butler's pantry and music room. All the partitions and
mantels have been removed, the ceiling has been lowered,
and strip lighting has been installed. All that remains
is the main stair and the servant's stair. To the rear
of tile house is a garage built in a similar style.
Specific dates early 1920's Builder/Architect Builder -
Joe G. Ferguson Statement of Significance The Webster
Parish Library Building is significant in the area of
architecture as a local example of the 1920's Spanish
Colonial Revival. Although there are contemporaneous
eclectic (mainly Georgian Revival) structures in Minden
of greater pretension, the library is generally held to
be the finest example of its particular style. Although
the interior features are lost the exterior is the
broadest and grandest of Mission Revival residences in
Minden. No other example in the town can match its full
two story seven bay facade and its triple arch entrance.
The typical example in Minden, and indeed in Louisiana
as a whole, has five bays or less, one story, and a
single entrance door. It is therefore of outstanding
significance within the context of Minden. The Webster
Parish Library Building was built in the early 1920's to
be the home of Joe G. Ferguson, a wealthy lumberman in
the area. It was deeded in 1963 to the Webster Parish
Police Jury for the exclusive use of the parish library.
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The Webster
Parish Library and Annex built with stucco
exterior, tile roof, oval casement windows
was built in 1919-21 by Joseph G. Ferguson.
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Major Bibliographical References
Letters from Thomas Lorraine Campbell, Official Webster
Parish Historian, to Dan Hodson, February 9, April 28,
1980. Conveyance Records, Webster Parish
