Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Alexandria (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim, Alexandria Zoological Park, and Alexandria Museum of Art. Also, be sure to include St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Alexandria (Louisiana).
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Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim
Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim known locally as "The Jewish Temple" is an historic Jewish synagogue located in Alexandria, Louisiana. Founded in 1859 by Jews from the Alsace region of France, it is one of the oldest congregations in Louisiana and one of the original founding members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now known as the Union for Reform Judaism.[1]
Alexandria Zoological Park
Wildlife in free-roaming habitats. The Alexandria Zoological Park is a 33-acre zoo located in Alexandria, Louisiana, United States. First opened to the public in 1926, it is owned by the City of Alexandria and operated by the Division of Public Works. It is home to about 500 animals.
The zoo was started in 1926 in Bringhurst Park as a row of cages. When the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) threatened to close the zoo in the 1960s, the city created the committee that is now Friends of the Alexandria Zoo (FOTAZ), the support organization for the zoo.
The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and takes part in about 20 Species Survival Plans (SSP).[2]
Address: 3016 Masonic Dr, 71301-4240 Alexandria (Central Alexandria)
Alexandria Museum of Art
Exhibits and workshops in a former bank. The Alexandria Museum of Art of Alexandria, central Louisiana, United States opened its doors in 1977 in the historic Rapides Bank and Trust Company Building. Rapides Bank and Trust Company Building is a historic bank building completed in 1898 in the Renaissance Revival style, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1980. In 1998, AMoA expanded and constructed its grand foyer and offices as an annex to the Rapides Bank Building. In 1999, AMoA was honored as an Outstanding Arts Organization in the Louisiana Governor's Arts Awards. In 2007, the Museum entered into a collaborative endeavor agreement with Louisiana State University of Alexandria. AMoA now also serves as a downtown campus for LSUA classes and is host to multidisciplinary community events, including concerts and recitals, lectures, yoga classes, Second Saturday Markets, and Museum Afterhours. These events support all art forms – film, literature and poetry, songwriting and visual arts.
The Museum holds between five and seven exhibitions each year, displaying a variety of historic and contemporary subjects. AMoA offers multidisciplinary programming surrounding every exhibit, including lectures and master classes on the subject of or in the medium of the exhibit. Additionally AMoA engages elementary-aged Rapides Parish students by offering the ArtExpress program, a free-to-schools initiative that puts resident artist educators and museum staff in classrooms around the parish for arts-integrated lessons. The Art2Go program provides hands on visual art workshops free to elementary school teachers to support the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education requirements to provide 1 hour per week of visual arts instruction in the classroom and are taught by certified art teachers. The Museum also offers summer workshops for elementary and middle school students and provides arts activities in the Bolton Avenue Community Center afterschool program.
The Museum is located at 933 Second Street in downtown Alexandria. It is open Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday 10am-4pm.[3]
Address: 933 2nd St, 71301-8322 Alexandria (Central Alexandria)
St. Francis Xavier Cathedral
Cathedral in Alexandria, Louisiana. St. Francis Xavier Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, located in Alexandria, Louisiana.
The cathedral and related buildings was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 29 March 1984 as St. Francis Xavier Cathedral Complex. The complex includes the cathedral building, St. Francis Academy (erected in 1897), and the rectory (erected in 1896 and renovated in 1930).[4]
Address: 626 4th St, 71301 Alexandria (Central Alexandria)
Bringhurst Field
Stadium in Alexandria, Louisiana. Bringhurst Field was from 1933 to 2013 a baseball stadium in Alexandria, Louisiana. Owned by the city of Alexandria, it served as the home field of the Alexandria Aces, one of the most successful independent league baseball teams, which won various championships in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2007, and 2009. It also hosted local high school games. Built in 1933 and renovated extensively in 1994, it held 3,500 people. It was the home field for a local high school, the Bolton High School Bears.
For many years the ballpark hosted the Louisiana High School Baseball Championships and the Louisiana High School All-Star Game. Alexandria Zoological Park is situated behind the left field wall.
Amenities included a two-room press box, two picnic areas, two separate clubhouses for home and visiting teams, deck seating for sponsors, and electric fans to cool the rooters sitting in the wooden seating areas, which are not individual seats but rather a long wooden stairway extending behind the boxes.
Bringhurst closed after eighty years of use in 2013 because of safety concerns about the metal superstructure that supported the wooden bleachers. The Alexandria Aces still used the field in 2014 but failed to complete the season, and a fire in 2014 destroyed the former clubhouse and office. The outfield wall, which had been coming apart in pieces, and the scoreboard are being removed. The field will become a green space in June 2017 for picnicking and playing leisure games.
The field was named in honor of Alexandria engineer Robert Wilton Bringhurst, who built bridges during the American Civil War and was the father of businessman Robert Bringhurst, Jr..[5]
Address: 1 Babe Ruth Dr, Alexandria (Central Alexandria)
Alexandria National Cemetery
Cemetery. Alexandria National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Pineville, in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It occupies approximately 8 acres, and is site to over 10,000 interments as of the end of 2020.[6]
Address: 209 E Shamrock Ave, Alexandria
Louisiana History Museum
Museum in Alexandria, Louisiana. The Louisiana History Museum is located in the historic downtown portion of Alexandria, Louisiana, USA, near the Red River. It showcases the social evolution of all of Louisiana, but centers on the history of Central Louisiana, Rapides Parish, and Alexandria. Major exhibit areas deal with Native Americans, Louisiana geography, politics, health care, farming, and the impact of war.[7]
Address: 503 Washington St, 71301-8026 Alexandria (Central Alexandria)
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Building in Alexandria, Louisiana. The Emmanuel Baptist Church in downtown Alexandria, Louisiana was built in 1950. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 2001.
The building was designed by New Orleans architects Favrot & Reed. Jacoby Stained Glass Studios of St. Louis also contributed to the project.
In 1960 the building was expanded by an addition to the rear, and its education building was extensively remodeled.
A family life center was added to Emmanuel in the late 1970s under the leadership of then pastor Schuyler M. Batson (1923–1996). It was built by Buddy Tudor's family-owned construction company in Pineville.[8]
Address: 430 Jackson St, 71301 Alexandria (Central Alexandria)
Mt. Olivet Episcopal Church and Cemetery
Church building. Mt. Olivet Episcopal Church and Cemetery is an historic Carpenter Gothic style Episcopal Church building and its adjoining cemetery located at 335 Main Street in Pineville, Louisiana. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 2000. Mt. Olivet is no longer a parish church and is now Mount Olivet Chapel. Its parish hall is now the Diocesan House of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana.[9]
Address: 335 N Main St, Alexandria
Kent Plantation House
Historical place museum in Alexandria, Louisiana. Kent Plantation House is the oldest standing structure in Central Louisiana. Listed since 1971 in the National Register of Historic Places, Kent House is located in Alexandria in Rapides Parish. The plantation house is a representation of southern plantation life between 1795 and 1855. The main structure was erected in 1800 with the labor of people enslaved by Pierre Baillio. The bousillage Creole house and restored period outbuildings are now a showcase for tourists.[10]
Arna Wendell Bontemps House
Arna Wendell Bontemps House is located in Alexandria, Louisiana. On October 13, 1902, author Arna Wendell Bontemps was born there.
It was the childhood home of Arna Wendell Bontemps.
Avoiding demolition due to construction of Interstate 49, the house was moved six blocks, in 1991. And it was then renovated.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1993.[11]
Address: 1327 Third Street, Alexandria (Central Alexandria)