Lafayette War Memorial Building

Lafayette Parish War Memorial Building Complex was constructed on land granted by Spain to René Trahan on May 4, 1776. Half of the land grant was sold several times, and on September 2, 1816, it was sold to Vermilionville founder, Jean Mouton Sr. A portion of that land became what is now known as Freetown-Port Rico National Historic District. Within Freetown, the property at 2100 Jefferson Street was sold by Leopold Weill on April 3, 1945, to the Parish of Lafayette for $40,000. In 1955, Lafayette Parish contracted prominent Louisiana Architect, A. Hays Town, to build a public health unit. Hays Town’s original design included two rectangular, adjoining, two-story, wings situated in an “L” formation, facing Jefferson Street and West Pinhook Road with an outdoor courtyard opening onto Coolidge Street and General Mouton Avenue. The Lafayette Parish War Memorial building was constructed with concrete clad steel square-profile columns supporting the roof and second floor. Generous expanses of fixed glass windows in a repeating geometry of square openings on each floor gives the building its Midcentury Modern architectural classification.