Lincoln Museum & Historical Society

LINCOLN PARISH MUSEUM

Ruston, Louisiana

On December 8, 1975, one of the oldest and most attractive houses in Ruston was donated to the Lincoln Parish Museum and Historical Society. The stately building has been a Ruston showplace from the earliest years of the town. The donors, Mrs. Mary Olive Davis Green and Mrs. Charlotte Davis Parrott, wanted to share with their hometown the mansion that had been identified with their family for over half a century.

The history or the Kidd-Davis house dates back to 1885, one year after the hounding of Ruston. In that year, Leroy Madison Kidd, a merchant from the neighboring town of Vernon in Jackson Parish, moved his business to the recently established railroad town of Ruston. He bought a 300-foot square block from Robert E. Russ, city founder and namesake of Ruston. L. M. Kidd sold the block to C.H. Harris who owned it briefly before selling it to Captain Milton B. Kidd, brother and business partner of the original owner or the lot.

Constructed in 1886, the Kidd family occupied the house until 1921. As the family grew, more rooms were added to the original structure, creating the rather unusual pattern of room locations. The house was the first residence in Ruston to have indoor plumbing. The large backyard contained a garden, several outbuildings, and a grass tennis court, reputed to have been the first in town.

In 1921 Captain E.L. Kidd sold the house to the Robert Wesley Davis family. Mr. Davis, along with his older brothers, James, John and Virgil, founded the Davis Brothers Lumber Company, one of the largest such enterprises in north Louisiana. R.W. Davis was married to the former Charlotte Arabella Long of Winnfield, sister of two of Louisiana's most famous governors, Huey and Earl Long. Both political leaders visited the house on several occasions.

Over the years many additions and changes have been made by the occupants. The last major remodeling was done by the Davis family in 1938. Under the direction of architect William King Stubbs the square columns were replaced and the Chippendale top railings were added. Part of the spacious front porch was enclosed, thereby enlarging the front rooms. At its final addition, the house contained some 9,900 square feet under a roof that contained eight gables.

The Kidd-Davis house has provided gracious living to several generations of Ruston families, from the beginnings of the city to the present. In 1984 the property was entered in the National Register of Historic Places under the name “Kidd-Davis House” and is open to the public.