DeRidder Commercial Historic District


The DeRidder Commercial Historic District is a historic district in DeRidder, Louisiana. It covers an area roughly bounded by Washington Street, West 2nd Street, Stewart Street, and West Port Street and comprises three blocks of commercial and commerce related buildings dating from 1900 to 1933. Earliest buildings are mainly one story brick structures, while later ones are one to two stories tall.
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The nearby Beauregard Parish Courthouse and Beauregard Parish Jail were not included in the historic district as not directly related to the commercial history of the town.

History

The DeRidder Commercial Historic District has been the trading center of the parish since about 1905. From 1918 to 1920 several buildings, including the First National Bank, were built. When the lumber boom ended in 1925, the commercial district was enough developed to survive and avoided DeRidder to become a ghost town. The fact the district was mainly composed by brick buildings helped it remain quite intact, despite numerous fires happened over the years.

Contributing Properties

The historical district contains a total of 27 contributing properties, built between c. 1905 and 1930: