Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

Author: Lora Diane Peppers

  • 1930 Roarer – Concept Art for ULM

    This is another page from the 1930 Roarer yearbook, showing the concept art for the new junior college going in on DeSiard Street. You may know it today as ULM!…

  • 1930 Roarer

    I have been thumbing through a few of the old area yearbooks and some of the pages have caught my eye. I will share them here for the next few…

  • Zephemiah Liles frees his slave Ralph

    This was found in an old Ouachita Parish newspaper called “The Ouachitta Standard”. The issue was dated April 5, 1839. In this ad, Zephemiah announced that he was intending to…

  • Monroe Craft Shop – Circa 1935

    This photo shows the interior of a Monroe building: http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/ouachita/photos/lilesjc1.htm Several young men are seen, but only one, J.C. Liles, is identified. The address listed on the photo, puts the…

  • Slave Market in West Monroe

    And to go along with yesterday’s post, here is another from the same newspaper, different day, for a slave market in the town of Trenton, which is now part of…

  • Slave sale in Monroe.

    This just makes me shiver. Notice how Granville and Lucinda were husband and wife. Five years later, they all would be free. Did Granville and Lucinda get sold together or…

  • Henry Kindermann Grocery

    Many years ago, while browsing through the Ouachita Telegraph newspapers in the 1870’s, I found the following illustration and write-up. I submitted it to the Ouachita Parish genweb page, where…

  • DeSiard Street postcard, circa 1950.

    I have never seen this postcard before! It shows a view up DeSiard street circa 1950. You can see the Paramount theater, Kress Department Store and the bank building with…

  • Andre Cajun and the tale that refuses to DIE!

    What you are looking at is the little book that started the wild tale about how West Monroe got started. I have written a summary about the Trent brothers legend…

  • Twin City Shopping Center

    The above photo was included in a 1970 informational brochure about Monroe. This was my favorite place to go as a kid! The opening of the Pecanland Mall spelled doom…