Over the past couple of years I taken literally hundreds of photographs from one end of Louisiana to the other. During that time I have shared the vast majority of those images here at The Traveler's Guide, yet there was a vast collection of images that I simply didn't have the time to sort through and write posts about. Last weekend I decided to devote an entire morning to sorting through those images so that I could put together this visual retrospective on what life is like here in the Pelican State.
The image above sets a rather somber tone for this piece, maybe it is a fitting beginning for a visual tour of the parts of Louisiana that most visitors to our state never see. Far away from the big cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge lies a vast area of heavily wooded forests and acres of rich farm land where cane and cotton are a way of life.
What we see here is a roadside memorial in the weeds on the edge of a freshly plowed field on the road to St. Landry.
In the central part of Louisiana farming is the primary industry, and generally mother nature supplies all the rain that the crops could ever need, yet in both 2022 and 2023 the area experienced periods of extreme draught. The results of that lack of moisture can be seen here.
I thought that this was an interesting visual, drought weary crops surrounding an old irrigation pump near Latanier.
The sun shines through the trees on the banks of Three Mile Lake in St. Landry Parish.
These are two separate images of almost the exact same scene. I know that they are kinda redundant, but I really liked both of them so I decided to share them. This is the kind of natural beauty that most people imagine when they think about Louisiana, lush vegetation with Spanish Moss hanging down over a bayou or swamp. In this case it is actually Three Mile Lake in St. Landry Parish.
The gated entrance to a long forgotten cattle ranch near Oakland in northern Louisiana.
Steps leading to house that is no longer there in the historic district of Shreveport.
In this image we see the effects of prolonged draught again, normally this area of Clear Lake near Mansfield is under several feet of water. On this day, however, the water has receded and the lake bed is now a lush field.
You can clearly see at the bottom of these trees where the water line of Clear Lake normally is.
This is one of my favorite picture from the past couple of years and it took a lot of hard work on my part to get it. Here the CPKC Railroad Holiday Train passes through Pineville under a stormy night sky.
I could honestly make an entire career out of taking pictures of abandoned gas stations around the state, they are just about everywhere. This one is off State Road 509 near Mansfield.
Here in Louisiana plants will grow just about anywhere, even on the roof of an old abandoned building. This sot of the structure with its flowering vines was taken off Highway 1 in north central Louisiana.
There is very little left of these old rail cars sitting in what used to be the Red River & Gulf railyard near Long Leaf. These old log cars were abandoned in the mid 1950s when the railroad ceased operation. The nearby Southern Forest Heritage Museum hopes to one day rebuild these cars and use them for tourist trains.
Sunrise over a cane field in central Louisiana. This state has some of the most amazing sunrises.
I have taken photos of this old pump house on the banks of Bayou Boeuf in Meeker dozens of times. This abandoned pump once supplied water from the bayou to a nearby sugar mill.
Finding abandoned buildings in Louisiana is hobby that has become a passion for a large number of enthusiasts who scour the state from end to the other in search of locations that have long been forgotten. This hobby does come with inherent risks, however. This long abandoned building on Texas Avenue in Shreveport caught fire and collapsed.
This old Rock Island Railroad bridge doesn't see trains anymore, since the line went bankrupt in the early 1980s.
In the not so far away past, many railroads that have faded away into oblivion operated throughout the state. Here the abandoned tracks of the old Missouri Pacific are still visible in this field just off Highway 1.
Summers in Louisiana are extremely hot and humid. In this photo of a railroad crossing on Highway 1 in the north central part of the state you can actually see the visual effect of the heat and moisture. The air is so thick you could almost swim through it. I like to refer to the experience as the 'hot soup effect'. I remember my summers in the California desert as being baked alive, here in the South you are boiled alive.
An old stop sign in the tall grass in Gibsland.
Families enjoying a warm summer evening at the Indian Creek Recreation Area.
Kids having fun on the pier at the Indian Creek Recreation Area.
A relaxing July evening on the shore of the Indian Creek Recreation Area. Fireworks are just a little over an hour away.
The sun is setting while these visitors to the Indian Creek Recreation await the annual fireworks celebration.
The state of Louisiana has a strong connection to World War II. Troops from all over the world trained to fight in the Pacific at numerous military bases throughout the state. These uniforms that belong to some of those brave soldiers who served our country during that war are part of the Camp Claiborne exhibit at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum in Long Leaf.
A tour guide at the Camp Claiborne Exhibit at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum explains how lumber milled in Central Louisiana was used to build the landing craft used in the D-Day landing at Normandy Beach.
These massive furnaces once produced the steam that powered the massive lumber mill complex in Long Leaf.
The largest surviving saw mill complex in the southern states is right here in Louisiana. The central part of the state was once covered with such lumber mills back in the early part of the 20th century. In order supply these mills with raw material a large network of railroads were constructed. Here an old logging railcar sits on the tracks of the long abandoned Red River and Gulf Railroad. Off in the distance is the Crowell Long Leaf Lumber Company saw mill.
Locomotive #400 was once the pride of the Crowell & Spencer Lumber Company Railroad which hauled train loads of lumber from deep in the woods of Central Louisiana to the saw mill complex in Long Leaf. Today it sits at the edge of the forest where it was abandoned in the mid 1950s. The vintage steam locomotive is one of a handful owned by the Southern Forrest Heritage Museum who hopes to one day restore it.
The tracks of the long abandoned Red River and Gulf Railroad run deep into the woods near Long Leaf. This was the logging railroads main line that ran between the town of Lecompte and the Crowell Long Leaf Lumber Company saw mill complex.
How are you set for blades? This massive saw blade used to cut through trees like a hot knife through butter when the Crowell Long Leaf Lumber Company saw mill was in operation.
Here in Louisiana, Zydeco music is king. Here Lil Nathan and the Zydeco Bigtimers entertains the crowd at the Rock the Red celebration in Alexandria.
The town of Bernice may not be in the mythical Land of Oz, but its downtown district is home to this rather fanciful Tinman statue.
When people in Louisiana walk away from something, they really walk away for good. In this case, not only did they abandon a house, but a rather good sized boat as well. One can only imagine that the owner once used it for fishing on the waters of the nearby Bayou Boeuf in Lecompte.
I wish that I could find a store that sold large metal roosters - oh, here's one! These fellows guard the entrance to an antique store in northern Louisiana.
I took this photo on one of my trips from El Dorado, Arkansas to Ruston and I actually don't know the name of the lake, or whether it is actually in Louisiana or Arkansas, but I just loved the scene.
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