Louisiana Colored Chautauqua

Ruston had a Chautauqua before Grambling did. In 1889 the Louisiana Educational Association voted to build one on fifteen acres just north of town, with a two-story hotel, cabins, mineral springs promoted as healing and an open-air auditorium for about 2,000. Visitors came by carriage from the Ruston depot, and William Jennings Bryan was among the favorite speakers. It closed in bankruptcy in 1905, after about fifteen years. The Colored Chautauqua began at Grambling the next year, and it lacked the financial backing and statewide support that the Ruston grounds had enjoyed.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Eddie G. Robinson Museum — 1.1 mi
  A state museum in a former women's gymnasium at Grambling State University, on the 408-win coach who sent more than 200 players to the pros.

More markers nearby

• Eddie G. Robinson — 1.3 mi
• Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Sr. — 1.3 mi
• Lincoln High School — 5.2 mi
• Old Wire Road — 6.6 mi