Greensburg Land Office

The Greensburg Land Office, on Courthouse Square in Greensburg in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, was built in the 1820s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

Greensburg Land Office
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Louisiana Show map of the United States
Location	Courthouse Sq., Greensburg, Louisiana
Coordinates	30°49′44″N 90°40′1″W
Area	0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built	c.1825
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.	80004249[1]
Added to NRHP	October 7, 1980

It is a one-room common bond brick structure with a small portico having two large Doric brick columns. Its interior is dominated by a large paneled Adams mantel.[2]

It is one of the two or three oldest buildings in the "Florida Parishes" of Louisiana. It was deemed

significant in the area of architecture as a good example of a small rural office building in the Greek Revival style. It is of a type commonly found in the Eastern states as well as in nearby Lawyer's Row in Clinton (NHL), but which is seldom in other parts of Louisiana. Although some towns had them, all but a few were sacrificed to downtown redevelopment in the later nineteenth century. The Greensburg Land Office is also significant because it housed the St. Helena District Land Office, which serviced the entire Florida Parishes. Although Congress had in 1812 organized a land district out of the Florida Parishes, no provision had been made for the surveying of the private claims and public lands in this area. On March 3, 1819, however, Congress officially named this region the St. Helena District and provided for its survey. It was here that Florida Parish residents applied for American patents to their lands. In fact, this can be seen as but one of the many steps involved in the Americanization of Louisiana. In 1843 the land office was removed from Greensburg to Baton Rouge.[2]

In 1980 the build was in use as a Veterans' Administration Office. It is located nearly adjacent to the entrance to the St. Helena Parish Courthouse.[2]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Greensburg Land Office" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. 1980. Retrieved June 7, 2017. with two photos and two maps