About Gillis Long Center

Mission
The GWLC one of seven Louisiana National Guard Installations. It is responsible for providing operational and training support and resources in support of the units of the Louisiana National Guard. The facility is the home of several LANG units and elements of the Joint Staff.

History
The History of the Gillis W. Long Center The site where the Gillis W. Long Center is located was once the home of a sugar cane plantation called Indian Camp, named for General Camp, a War of 1812 Veteran who first owned this land. The centerpiece of the plantation was the main house, built in the 1850s by the same architect who built the historical Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, Henry Howard. The mansion was called “Woodlawn.” This magnificent work is the first sight you see when entering the main gates of The Gillis W. Long Center. Abandoned and in disarray, the property was sold to the State of Louisiana in 1894, just before the first patients were sent from New Orleans.  For over 100 years now, this site has served as a treatment center for these patients, tended by the Daughters of Charity and eventually by doctors and clinicians. Their disease, now known as Hansens disease, was cured in the 1940s by Dr. Guy Faget, here at what we fondly call “Carville.”  

History of LSU
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College had its origin in certain land grants made by the United States government in 1806, 1811, and 1827 for use as a seminary of learning. In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana near Pineville, Louisiana. The institution opened January 2, 1860, with Col. William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent. The school closed June 30, 1861, because of the Civil War. It reopened on April 1, but was again closed on April 23, 1863, due to the invasion of the Red River Valley by the federal army.