ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Solomon Northup Committee for Commemorative Works is planning for the design of the inaugural monument of Solomon Northup and the re-envisioned courthouse plaza to be completed and dedicated in 2025.
This historic project will be prominently located in front of the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse in downtown Marksville on the land in which the original courthouse once stood and where Solomon was freed on January 4, 1853. The location of the chosen monument site also sits adjacent to the Solomon Northup historical marker erected in his honor in January 2018 to commemorate the 165th anniversary of his regained freedom. Additionally, the plaza site is located across from the Marksville Post Office situated on Main Street where carpenter Samuel Bass mailed letters notifying Solomon’s family and friends of the circumstances of his whereabouts which led to his rescue.
THE SOLOMON NORTHUP INAUGURAL MONUMENT PLAZA
We have commissioned Emmy and Oscar-winning sculptor Wesley Wofford, FNSS, to create a bronze likeness of Solomon Northup. In Wofford’s words via his Artist’s Statement, “As the viewer sees Hope Out of Darkness from a distance, the sculpture emanates an intelligent, free, American citizen, leading the way to a more equitable future with a raised torch. But as one moves closer and experiences the sculpture in the round, the viewer will discover the pathos and tragedy of Solomon Northup’s story.”
THE SITE
History of Marksville, Louisiana
Founded in 1794, Marksville is named after Marc Eliche, a traveling peddler from Italy who came to establish a trading post after his wagon broke down in this area. Marksville is named after Marc Eliche who established a trading post after his wagon broke down in this area. Eliche later donated the land that became the Courthouse Square. The City of Marksville was incorporated on April 6, 1843 and is the parish seat. Marksville’s population has numerous families of Cajun ancestry and became the trading center of a rural area developed as cotton plantations.
After the United States outlawed the Atlantic slave trade in 1808, enslavers purchased African-American slaves through the domestic slave trade; a total of more than one million were transported to the Deep South from the Upper South in the first half of the 19th century. Enslavers typically bought slaves from markets in New Orleans, where they had been taken via the Mississippi River or by the coastal slave trade at sea. The case of Solomon Northup is one of renowned popularity and of historical earnest connected to various people and places in Avoyelles and Rapides parishes.
On January 4, 1853, Solomon Northup was found to be a free citizen of New York by Judge Ralph Cushman, and was freed from his slave owner Edwin Epps and transferred into the custody of Henry B. Northup Esq., whom was appointed Agent of the State of New York to locate and rescue Solomon and return him to his family.
History of Avoyelles Parish Courthouse in Marksville
Located at 301 North Main Street/Mark Street, the building faces northwest and is a two- story red colored brick and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Marksville. The west front has a large porch with six large columns rising to a wide stone header at the top of the second story. There are three doorways framed with stone.
The roof line is flat. In the interior are marble wainscoting. The Parish District Court courtrooms are located on the second story. The building houses the District Court of the 12th Judicial District.
Courthouse History
1807 – The first courthouse was a two-room structure.
1837 – The second courthouse was a two-story frame structure.
1856 – The third courthouse was built in 1856.
1894 – Addition constructed by Masters Couvillion and C.D. Stewart.
1926-27 – The fourth and present courthouse was constructed.
