Alexandria Iron & Supply
Though this facility has only been closed for five years now the location looks as if no one has stepped foot on the property for decades. It just goes to show just how quickly the vegetation will overtake things that are not cared for.
What can be seen today is one of the two pontoon-like boats that formed the bottom of the ferry. There was a flat deck on top for transporting goods and passengers. The boiler for the ferry can be seen in the mud just a few yards north of the main wreckage.
Cannon embedded in a Baton Rouge Sidewalk
Driving north on I-49 through Alexandria it is hard not to notice a very vast area of forest just off the right hand side of the road. One would assume that this overgrown area just south of downtown was an area that somehow avoided development during the city's history. In actuality, however, the exact opposite is true. During the early 1900s til the early 1980s this area of Alexandria was a very large industrial area that included numerous businesses, homes and two large railroad facilities. Today very little of this still exists and what does stands abandoned and forgotten.
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Lake Charles Carriages
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Pirate's Cove Water Park / Resort in Iowa
Shreveport Railways Company Trolley Bus in Ford Park Shreveport
In the 1850s, the cannons from the fort were sent to the John Hill Foundry on Third Street to be melted into sugar house machinery," Sykes said. "But the foundry sent the cannons back to the city to be imbedded into street corners to keep vehicles off the sidewalks. If you look at other old pictures of downtown Baton Rouge, you'll see some of these cannons."
The building itself dates back to the 1870s and during the 1970s and 80s it was called the Havana home to a popular bar and club scene. The name was changed to the Chicago Theatre in the early 2000s. Last year the building next door burned down but the Chicago was saved by fire fighters.
Driving north on I-49 through Alexandria it is hard not to notice a very vast area of forest just off the right hand side of the road. One would assume that this overgrown area just south of downtown was an area that somehow avoided development during the city's history. In actuality, however, the exact opposite is true. During the early 1900s til the early 1980s this area of Alexandria was a very large industrial area that included numerous businesses, homes and two large railroad facilities. Today very little of this still exists and what does stands abandoned and forgotten.
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Lake Charles Carriages
Apparently these carriage rides were a big tourist attraction and Lake Charles Carriages provided a plethora of tour packages including The Charpentier Historic District Tour, The Shell Beach Drive Tour, The Historic Downtown Tour, and a Christmas Light Tour. The company's website is still up and running and from what I saw there these tours looked like they were a lot of fun.
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Nicholson Elementary School in Baton Rouge
There are literally hundreds of amazing old abandoned schools that are amazing examples of various types of architectural styles all over the state of Louisiana. Today I drove past the Nicholson Elementary School in Baton Rouge and I was struck by just how amazing a structure it truly is.
About ten minutes east of the city of Lake Charles are the remains of an abandoned water park. The decaying structures are clearly visible from the busy I-10 freeway and for years drivers have wondered about it's history and why it was left for dead.
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Powhatan Railroad Depot / Blair & Co. Gas Station in Coushatta
This past week I was traveling down Highway 1 from Shreveport towards Natchitoches when I spied a structure off to my right that my keen eye immediately recognized as a railroad depot. My suspicion was soon confirmed as I pulled up in front of the old Texas & Pacific Railroad depot that once served the nearby town of Powhatan. The location also included an old railroad crossing signal, a replica railroad water tower and an old gas station.
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Pringle Theater in Glenmora
The Pringle (you have to love that name) reportedly opened 1942 and the price of a ticket was a whopping five cents. The theater entertained the residents of Glenmora for sixty years until it closed it's doors for good in 2009.
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Red River & Gulf Railyard in Long Leaf
On March 30, 1954 the Red River & Gulf Railroad ran it's last train from Lecompte to Long Leaf, Louisiana. The once profitable lumber railroad was founded in 1905 to carry raw materials for a sprawling lumber mill in Long Leaf but by the early 1950s the cost of running the line outweighed the revenue it produced. The tracks, locomotives, rolling stock and facilities of the Red River & Gulf were simply abandoned where the stood for decades.
Pringle Theater in Glenmora
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Red River & Gulf Railyard in Long Leaf
On March 30, 1954 the Red River & Gulf Railroad ran it's last train from Lecompte to Long Leaf, Louisiana. The once profitable lumber railroad was founded in 1905 to carry raw materials for a sprawling lumber mill in Long Leaf but by the early 1950s the cost of running the line outweighed the revenue it produced. The tracks, locomotives, rolling stock and facilities of the Red River & Gulf were simply abandoned where the stood for decades.
These trolley buses were operated by the Shreveport Railways Company, and then the Shreveport Transit Company from 1931 until there last run on May 26, 1965. This particular unit was rescued from the scrap yard and placed on display in Ford Park in 1974 where it still sits today.
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Texas Avenue in Shreveport
If you cross over the Red River from Bossier City on old Highway 79 you will find yourself on Texas Street in the busy section of downtown Shreveport. If you take that street through downtown you will eventually find yourself smack dab in front of the majestic First United Methodist Church with the option of turning left or right on Common. You will need to take a left and then an immediate jog to the right and you will now find yourself on Texas Avenue. This is when the landscape quickly changes from preserved historical buildings to an area that is mostly forgotten and abandoned.
Town of Sunrise
Sunrise - In 1874 Alexander Banes, a former slave, purchased property which he sold to Sunrise Realty Co. in 1905. About 1906 the Missouri Pacific Railroad began using a train ferry to cross the Mississippi River causing a great spurt in the population of Sunrise. The town that once stood here has vanished into history.
If you cross over the Red River from Bossier City on old Highway 79 you will find yourself on Texas Street in the busy section of downtown Shreveport. If you take that street through downtown you will eventually find yourself smack dab in front of the majestic First United Methodist Church with the option of turning left or right on Common. You will need to take a left and then an immediate jog to the right and you will now find yourself on Texas Avenue. This is when the landscape quickly changes from preserved historical buildings to an area that is mostly forgotten and abandoned.
Sunrise - In 1874 Alexander Banes, a former slave, purchased property which he sold to Sunrise Realty Co. in 1905. About 1906 the Missouri Pacific Railroad began using a train ferry to cross the Mississippi River causing a great spurt in the population of Sunrise. The town that once stood here has vanished into history.
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