William G. Stewart Elementary School is a defunct elementary school, which formerly served the western portion of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, with public school pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The institution was located at 215 North Middle Landing Road, a block north of common U.S. Highway 79 and U.S. Highway 80, known in Minden as the "Shreveport Road".[1] It was one of four, since reduced to three, public elementary schools in Minden. Demolition of Stewart was undertaken in August 2011.
Under an economic realignment plan, the Webster Parish School Board marked Stewart Elementatry for closure with the fall semester of 2011. The school had opened in the 1949-1950 academic year and was named for Minden businessman William G. Stewart (October 5, 1882 - August 1970),[2] a former president of the Webster Parish School Board. As did many of the early city leaders, Stewart graduated from the former Minden Male Academy on Sullivan Street, a predecessor to Minden High School, which opened in 1901.[3]
The companion school to Stewart on the eastern side of Minden is E.S. Richardson Elementary School, named for educator and former Louisiana Tech University president E.S. Richardson. Prior to Stewart and Richardson, elementary pupils had attended classes in the high school complex on College Street. Both schools were constructed through a bond issue approved after World War II.
Prior to desegregation, the historically black Jerry A. Moore elementary school (since closed and demolished) was operating in the same neighborhood. Both schools served the western part of Minden. In its last years, Stewart was predominantly African American in enrollment. Stewart had some 350 students in the 2007-2008 year. Most were eligible for federally-funded school lunches.[4]
During the early 1960s, the Stewart principal was Cecil C. Ross (1912–1994), who left to become parish elementary school supervisor.[5] From 1967-1994, Lonnie Milton Simpson (born March 26, 1937) served as principal. A native of Cotton Valley north of Minden and a graduate of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, he arrived at the school in 1960 as a sixth grade teacher. Having since retired from the school system, he remains an active Baptist layman.