History Archives - Page 2 of 3

Louisiana’s Historic Byways

Boom or Bust Industry moved in and out of the northwest corner of Louisiana over the past two centuries. Oil and gas, timber, farming and more brought prosperity at its inception and…

We hoped to peacefully co-exist with the bees, allowing them to use our yard in return for pollinating the garden in the back. But then they started working their way through a vent in the bathroom and once in, began…

Pain Perdu’s New Status

At first glance the French breakfast dish pain perdu doesn’t have much to recommend it, especially if you only speak English. The word “pain” is not what one would be looking for in a breakfast selection, and the English name…

Pain Perdu’s New Status

At first glance the French breakfast dish pain perdu doesn’t have much to recommend it, especially if you only speak English. The word “pain” is not what one would be looking for in a breakfast selection, and the English name…

Midnight Trains

Let us pause a moment to consider midnight trains: Winston Hall is a Shreveport musician, song writer and music history buff. His town was once the home of the “Louisiana Hayride,” a Grand Ole Opry-type radio concert that helped grease…

Beading Rhythms

New Orleans is a gumbo of people of all different nationalities and races and all those people show a lot of love to each other,” says artist and Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Demond Melancon. “I’m part of that gumbo.”…

Farther Flung: Mountain Escape

Located in the northwest corner of Arkansas, Bentonville used to be a sleepy little town. Then Sam Walton got the great idea of helping people save money and live better, opening a five-and-dime called Walton’s on the square and beginning…

Literary Louisiana: Louisiana Spirit

FOOD Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou by Melissa Martin Chef Melissa Martin is passionate about two things: food and helping to preserve and protect the fragile wetlands and fisheries of her native Louisiana, as well as…

Farther Flung: History and Hauntings

Built in three sections, the McRaven Mansion in Vicksburg has been labeled the “Time Capsule of the South.” And rightly so. The original 1797 structure remains next to the 1836 addition with an elaborate Greek Revival front, constructed in 1849.…

Carnival in New Roads

By the time the 2020 Carnival season reaches its climax on Mardi Gras, Feb. 25, numerous Louisiana cities and towns will have wrapped up their perennial schedules of pre-Lenten parades, balls and other festivities. In one community, however, all proverbial…

From the Editor: Galloping Through the Decades

Hardly anyone knows it, but this year the Cajun Courir De Mardi Gras approaches the 70th anniversary of its revival. Had it not been for a few men wanting to rescue a lost ritual there would be no customs to…

From the Editor: Christmases' Midnights

What I remember most about going to Christmas midnight mass as a kid was the men standing outside the church until the last moment before the mass began. I didn’t know it at the time, but that was a French…

Traveler: Double Down

Casinos are now scattered liberally across Louisiana’s landscape and cityscapes, offering entertainment of many kinds. Since the actual gambling part of gaming houses is pretty much the same everywhere — you do split 8’s against dealer’s 10; you don’t get…

From the editor: A gubernatorial story

This is a gubernatorial election year, which raises the admittedly dorky question, to me at least: Who was governor 100 years ago? That would be in 1919. Well, it turns out the answer has significance in two of the state’s…

Traveler: Double Down

Casinos are now scattered liberally across Louisiana’s landscape and cityscapes, offering entertainment of many kinds. Since the actual gambling part of gaming houses is pretty much the same everywhere — you do split 8’s against dealer’s 10; you don’t get…

The Livonia Mounds

There are hundreds of Native American earthen mounds scattered throughout Louisiana and you may be surprised to learn that some are older than the Great Pyramids. Poverty Point may be the best-known archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and…

The Livonia Mounds

There are hundreds of Native American earthen mounds scattered throughout Louisiana and you may be surprised to learn that some are older than the Great Pyramids. Poverty Point may be the best-known archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and…

From the Editor: Easy Rider at 50

Fifty years ago, the search for the meaning of life wound through Louisiana with stops in the Pointe Coupee parish town of Morganza and in St. Mary Parish on the way to New Orleans. The motorcycle riders never found the…

Jefferson Highway

Before his company created Better Homes & Gardens and other memorable magazines, Edwin T. Meredith covered America’s farms. Almost exactly 100 years ago he was reporting on transportation trends, noting the rise of the automobile and the completion of the…