Could the old Dripp Donuts building be 152 Years Old? - Twin Blends takes a look
Could the old Dripp Donuts building be 152 years old??
The building at the corner of North Market and Texas Street in downtown Shreveport has been in the news lately due to structural damage and will probably be torn down. You know us, we love to search the history of old Shreveport buildings, especially if it's a hot topic in the news!
We’ve come across a lot of really old photos of it at the Northwest Louisiana Archives at LSUS over the years including when it was Dees Photos and Western Auto and even a photo of it from the 1890s when it was the Jules Dreyfuss Dry Goods and Clothing Store so we knew the building was at least around 134 years old. Now it seems it may be even older than that!
Through extensive research using Sanborn Maps (that showed the building there in 1885) and old Shreveport Times newspaper articles (including one from April 20, 1872, that states “J. Dreyfuss (Josh Dreyfuss)…..having leased the fine iron front store, now in course of erection, corner of Texas and Market streets, from the first of September next, and wishing to commence business there with an entire new stock”) we realized that the Dripp Donuts building is more than likely 152 years old. For reference, that’s only 36 years after Shreveport (originally known as Shreve Town) was founded in 1836 by the Shreve Town Company! How crazy is that!
Our buddy and local historical expert Marty Loschen said the following when asked about the building. "It's at least 139 years old according to the Sanborn Maps from 1885 forward. It looks the same with one interesting modification in 1909 that may have had a negative effect on the building's foundation depending on exactly what this structure was. It looks to be some sort of IronClad passageway that spans 20 feet. But, with all of that being said...I'm willing to bet that the foundation construction of the American Tower behind the building was the straw that broke the camel's back and totally shifted the adjacent foundations out of whack."
Like we said before, we love researching old buildings in Shreveport and uncovering their past so whether the building is 139 years old or 152 years old there are two things you can count on for sure:
1) It has definitely seen its share of history passing by its doors, and
2) If you were that old you would have a few cracks too!
Twin Blends: Northwest Louisiana History Hunters
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: How old is Dripp Donuts building
