Its main contributions to the future of the campus were the East and West Wing dormitories, two impressive brick barracks-style structures built between 1832 and 1837.

One of the key figures in the College of Louisiana was William King, who ran its preparatory school, Mathews Academy.

[2] King later became famous for his disdain of slavery and for founding the Elgin settlement in Ontario, a home for escaped slaves who had reached Canada via the Underground Railroad.

Several institutions of higher learning sprouted in and around Jackson in the autumn of 1845, somewhat as a result of Centenary College of Louisiana's opening at that time.

)[3][4] The Episcopal women's academy, the Southern Institute for Young Ladies, opened the year before, under the direction of Rev.

The small town was pushed to its limits at that time, as dignitaries from across the state and region crowded its hotels and private homes for the occasion.

Less than three years after the building was completed, the college closed, the vast majority of its students having joined the Confederate Army.

After the fall of Port Hudson, Centenary was taken over by the Union Army, and used as a field hospital, supply depot, and recruiting post — primarily for the United States Colored Troops.

A large contingent of Confederate States Army cavalry was sent to disrupt the recruiting practices, resulting in the largest battle to occur within the town limits of Jackson.

Centenary College of Louisiana reopened in the autumn of 1865, in a completely different world than the one that had forced its closing four years earlier.

In 1903, the prominent Methodist citizens of Shreveport, Louisiana, offered Centenary 17 acres (69,000 m2), a brand new facility, and a sizeable monetary grant if they would relocate.

Given the college's difficulty in procuring financial support where they were, and the several attractive opportunities Shreveport presented, it was not a matter of if they would move, but when.

The 40 acres (16 ha) area comprising the West Wing and the Professor's Cottage was added as Centenary College to the National Register of Historic Places on April 19, 1979.