Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

Author: Lora Diane Peppers

  • Ouachita River Postcard

    A neat little postcard came up for sale earlier this month! You can see Monroe in the background. Most prominent is the old Penn Hotel with the Pink Penthouse at…

  • Grammont and South Grand Near the Turn of the Last Century

    I love this photo postcard! What you are looking at is the corner of Grammont and South Grand Streets, taken from the top of the City Hall bell tower. On…

  • Ouachita Valley Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall

    This big building stood till the 1970’s at the site of the old Ouachita Valley Fairgrounds. It hosted Fair exhibits, music performances (the Twin City Jamboree) and revival meetings. These…

  • DeSiard Street at the Turn of the Century

    This is a super rare postcard I bought off of eBay a few weeks ago. The photographer is standing in the 100 block of DeSiard Street, with their back to…

  • Monroe Police Department

    Last week, a patron donated this photograph to the library’s collection: https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/oplib-pho%3A758 It shows the entire police department standing on the steps of the old Monroe City Hall. From the…

  • Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant

    I found this wonderful site called Historypin, which has historical photos from around the country pinned to the sites on a map where they were taken. One of the sites…

  • Ouachita Parish High School

    This is a photograph of the original OPHS building at an angle I have never seen before! This building became the Junior High before being torn down to make way…

  • The First McDonalds in Monroe

    Did you know the first McDonalds restaurant in Monroe was founded by the son of Greek immigrants? His name is Alex George. You can see a picture of him and…

  • The Monroe Grocer Company Limited

    This photo was taken circa 1925 or so of the Monroe Grocer Company Limited. This area now is where CASA and the Warehouse Restaurant are now (Corner of Pine and…

  • War of 1812 Pension Records

    Up until 2008, War of 1812 Pension files kept at the National Archives, were not available anywhere except the Archives themselves. They hadn’t even been microfilmed. The Archives approached the…