Case File
Hidden deep within the overgrown woods off West 70th Street in south Shreveport lies the crumbling, concrete skeleton of the Caddo Parish Penal Farm. Known locally by its deceptive and innocuous nickname, "The Pea Farm," the reality of this institution was anything but peaceful.
Built at the turn of the century to house minimal-security offenders and violent criminals alike, the facility operated under the brutal and unforgiving conditions of the early 1900s penal labor system. Inmates were forced to work acres of agricultural fields under the punishing Louisiana sun. While official records document the harvesting of peas and vegetables, local history and oral traditions point to an environment defined by severe abuse, neglect, and violence at the hands of the guards.
The site was largely abandoned by the 1960s, left to be consumed by the surrounding forest and thick groves of bamboo. Today, the Caddo Parish Penal Farm is a rotting monument to a harsh era of southern justice. This case file documents the remaining structural ruins, the overgrown cell blocks, and the forgotten paper trail of the inmates who were sent into these woods and never returned.
