The museum was built in 1965 by the State of Louisiana. It houses a number of artifacts from the site of Camp Moore as well as local interest artifacts and wartime artifacts from other sites. It became a State Commemorative Area in 1966. Camp Moore was closed in 1986 by Governor Edwin Edwards in a cost crunching move. The site sat closed for 6 years until interested members of several heritage organizations including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, United Daughters of the Confederacy and Military Order of the Stars and Bars formed the Camp Moore Historical Association and obtained a 97-year lease from the State of Louisiana to keep it open. It has been open for 8 years and manned by an all volunteer staff. We survive on donations, admissions and from our sole fund raiser, a reenactment held in November each year.
Research Facilities
Camp Moore now has a small research room and adjoining Library for those interested in doing research. Our Library and research facilities are continuing to grow and this listing will be updated to reflect current holdings. We are ALWAYS interested in having copies of letters from soldiers written while at Camp Moore or from any Louisiana soldier. We are not requesting your original letters, only copies or transcriptions. All of these letters help us to better understand what Camp Moore was all about. If you have access to such letters, diaries or journals or can even direct us to where such material is located, please do not hesitate to contact us at the two following locations:
Unfortunately, our staff is so small that we simply CANNOT do research for individuals, either on site or via email. Please visit our Links page for research opportunities. Listed below are the various research facilities that we currently maintain:
12 drawers of vertical files with hundreds of items of local interest, articles on Camp Moore, unit history information, biography information, photographs, etc. The vertical file is indexed.
A Library with over 1100 books dealing with the War Between the States and a full 128-volume set of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. The library is indexed by author, title and topic.
A binder with dozens of transcribed letters from soldiers stationed at Camp Moore and newspaper articles written at the time describing Camp Moore. The binder is indexed.
540 original Northern newspapers from the 1861-1865 time period. These newspapers are indexed.
A hardbound roster of over 15,000 burial sites of Louisiana Confederate soldiers and any Confederate soldiers buried in Louisiana. The binder is indexed alphabetically by soldier's last name. Separate binders are indexed by Regiment and by Cemetery.
A binder of dozens of photographs of the Port Hudson battlefield taken during and immediately post-siege.
A complete set of Andrew Booth's Records of Louisisna Confederate Soldiers and Commands as well as Grady Howell's For Dixieland I'll Take My Stand, both sets containing rosters of the Louisiana and Mississippi soldiers that served the Confederacy.
A binder with many full rosters of Louisiana commands that served the Confederacy and a listing of the persons researching those units. Full rosters are included for the 3rd La. Inf., 4th La. Inf., 8th La. Inf., 9th La. Inf., 10th La. Inf., 18th La. Inf., 26th La. Inf. 28th (Thomas') La. Inf., Miles Legion, Wheat's 1st Spec. Battalion, 1st La. Cavalry, Wingfield's 3rd La. Cav., Pointe Coupee Artillery, Boone's Battery, St. Mary Cannoneers and partial rosters of many other units. The rosters are indexed by company and regiment.
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Website design by N. Wayne Cosby
In memory of my beloved Christin