The Future Cultural Center and Blues Museum of Baton Rouge City Park
Photo by Rein Weiss
The home of legendary juke joint proprietor and bluesman Tabby Thomas and his son, folk-blues legend Chris Thomas King, has been named a historic local landmark by the Baton Rouge Historic Preservation Commission.
The traditional shotgun home, located in Old South Baton Rouge near City Park, was built around 1900, records show. In the late 1960s/early 1970s, a two-room addition was added, and its front porch was enclosed.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, the home was the social gathering place for many great bluesmen such as Slim Harpo and Guitar Slim. In 1979, Tabby opened Tabby’s Blues Box and Heritage Hall, where those social gatherings and jam sessions revived Louisiana’s blues culture.
The home had been abandoned and in disrepair. However, there is a growing interest among major developers to fully restore the home and make it a Cultural Center and Blues Museum. Because of its picturesque location in City Park just behind the Knock Knock Museum, overlooking the LSU Lakes and Golf Course, the home is perfectly located to become a great addition to the revitalization project of City Park Lakes. A Blues Museum and Cultural Center could be an attractive addition for visitors to Baton Rouge.
The Blues Origin Institute, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded by Chris Thomas King after the publication of his groundbreaking book, The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture, encourages Louisiana, and Baton Rouge in particular, to finally get serious about preserving its blues heritage before it’s lost. The Blues Origin Institute expects the designation will benefit the local community and provide a positive economic and cultural attraction for the city.
According to The Blues Origin Institute, the blues was invented in Louisiana in the 1890s—it wasn’t adopted in Northwest Mississippi in an area called the Delta until the late 1920s. Tabby Thomas and Chris Thomas King’s humble home can play a major role in telling the story of Louisiana blues culture for generations to come.