Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & Northwest Louisiana History Museum

For fifty-five years, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame had no permanent home — its artifacts stored in a coliseum, its first inductees named in 1958 but nowhere to put them. When the building finally opened in 2013, Azure magazine named it the Top Architecture Project in the World, beating entries from London and Tokyo. Trahan Architects lined the 28,000 square foot interior with over 1,000 unique stone-cast panels. The interior curves echo the flow of Cane River Lake — the oxbow left behind when the Red River shifted course and cut Natchitoches off from the Mississippi. Copper louvers reference plantation shutters. The design roots the building in the landscape that made the city what it is: a river town that lost its river and had to reimagine itself. The Sports Hall of Fame honors Terry Bradshaw, Shaquille O'Neal, the Manning family, Sue Gunter. The Northwest Louisiana History Museum traces 3,000 years from Caddo culture through civil rights. Both are part of the Louisiana State Museum system — the same network as the Cabildo and Presbytère in New Orleans. Adults $5, children free. Tuesday through Saturday, 9am to 4:30pm.