By Leanna Coy
If you’ve recently driven into Natchitoches, you may have noticed a new sign greeting you. Natchitoches is currently in the process of being rebranded. This means that we can expect to start seeing small changes all across town.
Most notably, the phrase “Where History Lives” has been added to the welcome sign.
“The tagline was supported by a member of the community,” Director of the Natchitoches Main Street Office Janna Jenkins said when discussing how the phrase was chosen. The new tagline is meant to embrace the history of Natchitoches while also giving it a new spin.
Aside from the welcome sign, residents may also notice some changes in the fonts, lettering, and logos around town. The colors will be brighter, the fonts will be modernized and the words will be a better reflection of Natchitoches’ culture. To match the new style of the town, Natchitoches will even be getting a remodeled website.
Residents may be wondering why the rebranding was necessary in the first place. However, the last time Natchitoches got rebranded was years ago.
“Natchitoches has grown so the branding needed to grow with it,” Natchitoches Director of Marketing and Communications Kelli West said. West also said that the changes will be gradual. “You may start to see it with the Christmas festival!”
Northwestern State University has had its own involvement with the rebranding project. The Director of First Year Experience and Leadership Development Vanner Erikson assured that no taxpayer money was used for the updates. Instead, all of the money came from local organizations.
“The Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission allocated around $20,000 for the project,” Erikson said.