Keachi Woman’s College Grounds

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A great little town to stop and photograph in Desoto Parish, Louisiana is the town of Keachi. Its full of old houses and the location of Keachi Woman’s College. The old college grounds is a favorite for photographers and ghost hunters a like. The problem is, most people without any research just post up pictures of an old farm house and the high School and say these buildings are the college. But with just a few minutes of looking I was able to figure out the school and the house were put on the grounds years after the college was demolished. I fell for this as well, but I am curious about the college’s history so I wanted to know more about the college. There isn’t a lot of info online, below some of the information I found on several different websites.

Keachi Woman’s College – History

Keachi Woman’s College was founded in 1856 in Keachi Louisiana and stayed a woman’s college until 1879 when it was opened up for men to attend. During the Battle of Mansfield in 1864 the college served as a field hospital and morgue.

Students believed the college and the second floor was haunted since it was used as the morgue. The blood stained walls and floors helped with this belief. – According to AllThingsSabine.com mentioned this info came from an 1957 article in The Baptist Messenger.

The confederate soldiers that died in battle or from wounds after the battle were buried in several rows with headstones in a nearby pine grove. I believe they were buried near a cemetery.

After the war the school was restored. Slowly the school was improved and college life went back to normal. In 1879 the school changed its name to Keachie Male and Female College. The college was still under the same management but the students were educated and housed in separated buildings and eventually both woman and men were taught in the same classrooms.

Then in 1880 a tornado damaged the buildings, injured President Tucker and some members of his family, and killed the language teacher. The buildings were repaired but President Tucker died from his injuries in 1881.

In 1887 a west wing was built.

Then in 1899 the school name was changed to Louisiana Female College.

The schooled remained a college until around 1917 and was closed. The college became a K-12 grade school and remained open until the 1920s.

I found several comments from people living the area the school burned down in the 1920s and was rebuilt as a smaller school. Eventually it was torn done along with any remaining original structures on the college grounds. It’s believed that the Baptist Church’s auditorium seating was salvaged from the college.

Today, you will find an old abandoned farm house. According to several websites the house was moved to its current location 20+ years ago by the historical society and its not abandoned. One site site said it was to be a bed and breakfast that never happened. Another website said this house was a donation to the historical society and become a museum. The house is referred to as the old Sebastian House. I can’t find any information on the house. At some point I will reach out to the historical society for confirmation.

Behind the farm house sits the old two story brick high school. Judging by its designed, it was built in the 1930s to 1940s and I saw a reference that it was open until the 1970s.

About the Images

The vintage photos were pulled from various websites including ancestry groups and historical websites. If you are the owner of any of these images and want them removed please contact me via the contract form.

The images were shot on gloomy day using my Sony a6000 and my Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS with a Gobe UV Filter using a monopod. I then edited the images with Adobe Lightroom CC and Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and DXO NIK Collection to clean up the images, remove noise, and recover the lost details.