Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

Author: Lora Diane Peppers

  • South Grand Street, circa 1873

    This is the third oldest photo of Monroe I have ever seen. Only the two photos of the 1871 fire are older. It shows South Grand Street, where a parade…

  • Monroe City High School

    Interesting postcard I just HAD to buy when I saw it for sale on Ebay. What stood out to me were the streetcar tracks in the road in the foreground!…

  • A Monroe Lawyer Punches a Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court!

    My jaw hit my chest when I read this one! The parties involved are Louisiana State Supreme Court Chief Justice George Eustis and a Monroe Lawyer named Wesley John Quincy…

  • An unusual view of the Salt Water Pool

    This photo: https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sea-pvc%3A639 probably doesn’t look like much to you. It shows a mostly empty swimming pool. What caught my eye, was that it was the Salt Water Natatorium out…

  • Monroe Schoolboys – 1947

    I love this photo! https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-p16313coll52%3A238 . It is titled, “Parochial School boys at Monroe, Louisiana.“ All the boys in the photo would be senior citizens today. There are three parochial…

  • The Swap Shop

    This one stumped me, until a colleague looked at the sign in the photo and said, “Swap Shop”. She was right! https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-p16313coll52%3A1166 The Swap Shop was located at 905 DeSiard…

  • The Dixie Lunch Room and the Square Deal Shoe Shop – 1947

    I am discovering a treasure trove of photos from 1947! https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-p16313coll52%3A1175 This one was taken in front of the two above named businesses. They were located at 607 and 605…

  • Collens Five Point Pharmacy

    This building was another one that stood in the 600 block of DeSiard Street, right at the corner of 6th: https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-p16313coll52%3A1162 I am guessing that window is where African-American clientele…

  • The Red Onion Cafe

    And tacking on to yesterday’s photo, this one: https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-p16313coll52%3A1168 was located in the 700 block of DeSiard. 705 DeSiard to be exact! The Red Onion was very big in it’s…

  • 1947 Photo of DeSiard Street

    This photo was labeled, “Negro quarter on Main Street, Monroe, Louisiana.” in the Louisiana Digital Library: https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsu-sc-p16313coll52%3A1163 . It is a photo from the LSU Special Collections. I did a…