Clubhouse of Bear Lake Club, once host to Teddy Roosevelt, in danger of being lost

Ian Robinson
Monroe News-Star
The Bear Lake Club Ltd. Clubhouse, located on Parish Road 39 near the juncture of Roundaway Bayou and Bear Lake several miles northwest of Tallulah, was named to the Most Endangered Places in the states' list on 2004.

Located near the juncture of the Roundway Bayou and Bear Lake several miles northwest of Tallulah, a historic camp house in Madison Parish is in danger of succumbing to the ravages of nature. 

Named one of the state's most endangered sites, the Bear Lake Club Ltd.'s "no style" frame clubhouse has suffered numerous losses over the years and is currently deteriorating. 

The building exhibits certain forms associated with Louisiana's French Creole architecture, an anomaly because it is located in the northeastern part of the state, where the French Creole building tradition is virtually unheard of. Forms

found at the clubhouse typically associated with French Creole architecture include the broad umbrella roof with its double pitch, the placement of the chimney internally, at the center and what were originally encircling porches.

The clubhouse was built in 1905 in a then-remote location in Madison Parish for the Bear Lake Club Ltd. The organization, consisting of outdoorsmen, promoted wildlife conservation. According to Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation executive director Brian Davis, the organization was the first conservation group in the country. 

United States President Teddy Roosevelt participated in a bear hunt in 1907 at Bear Lake. The picture was taken in the backwaters of Tensas River near Tallulah.

More:Early 20th century Rosenwald Schools built to educate Black students; some still standing

The club was incorporated in 1899 with the following "objectives and purposes" in its charter: "(T)he protection and preservation of game in this state, on land and water, and the protection of fish in the waters of this state, navigable and not navigable, also to stock waters with fish, and woods with game, to clean out bayous and lakes of obstructions and to town and operate steam, vapor, electric or other watercraft for the purposes of this corporation." 

The club was started with $5,000, with a hundred shares of stock at $50 each to be issued. The dues were set at $10.50 annually. The club's president during the 1920s was Dr. Bert Coad, an entomologist at the Department of Agriculture Experiment Station in nearby Tallulah. By 1943, when the club officially disbanded, there were only 15 members. 

During the early 19th century, Bear Lake flowed into Roundaway Bayou but today there is a dam with a road on top where the two meet. The old clubhouse sits at the rear of a parcel of land with a brick ranch house at the front. 

Originally there was a two-room main block with another section attached at a rear corner via an open porch. Each had its own roofline and in effect served as separate buildings. Today only the main block with its broad double-pitched hip roof remains. 

The two rooms in the clubhouse featured exposed stud walls on the perimeter, while the wall between the two and the ceilings are covered in narrow gauged beaded board. Each room retains its simple wooden mantel.  

The clubhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, and in 2004, was added to the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation's Most Endangered Places list.

More:Monroe's historic Cooley House being restored, rare example of Prairie-style architecture

Despite the clubhouse's deterioration, it still retains quite a bit of its original character. The defining aspect of the clubhouse is, according to the National Registry of Historic Places, is its broad umbrella-like roof with its double pitch. 

"The Bear Lake Club is actually one of the first conservation clubs that were formed in the country and the fact that it's also tied to President Teddy Roosevelt when he was doing his bear hunts in Mississippi and Louisiana, there's some significance behind the site," Davis said. "The fact that the Bear Lake Lodge is the early clubhouse for not only hunting but conservancy, I think is really the main reason why it should be restored." 

Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinsonand on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1.

Support local journalism by subscribing at https://cm.thenewsstar.com/specialoffer.