The Murder of Frederick Ludeling

Tuesday I mentioned that Frank Stubbs' eldest son murdered John Ludeling's son Frederick near the Cedars plantation on Riverside. I now realized that I have never written about it on this blog! Here are the facts as I know them, mainly from the Ouachita Telegraph, March 25, 1881. Let me preface this by saying the … Continue reading The Murder of Frederick Ludeling →

The Cedars – Plantation Home of the Stubbs Family

This one surprised me. The above home was built by Frank P. Stubbs, Sr. on Front Street (now Riverside Drive) circa 1853. This is a very historic home. A few years after it was built, Stubbs sold part of his land next door to Judge Ludeling and he built Sycamore Hall next to it. Somewhere … Continue reading The Cedars – Plantation Home of the Stubbs Family →

Sycamore Hall Burns

What got me interested in researching today's post and next week's two posts was thumbing through the Genealogy Department's copy of Sycamore Hall by Sylvester Breard on Wednesday. I am pretty nosey by nature and in the past I have researched this building. When I don't find anything on a particular topic, sometimes months or … Continue reading Sycamore Hall Burns →

Three Grand Openings in One Day!

November 16, 1925 was a great day in northeast Louisiana history. A grand opening banquet was being held for the Hotel Virginia in downtown Monroe. It was Monroe's newest and grandest hotel, filled with all the luxuries available at the time. A banquet was held for guests and area residents at the time to introduce … Continue reading Three Grand Openings in One Day! →

Northeast Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Association

Many people have asked me if this group still meets and the president of the society happened to come in a couple of months ago. Yes, the group still meets, but only four times a year now. There is no membership fee at the present. The group meets the third Sunday in February, May, August … Continue reading Northeast Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Association →

Palace Employees, Circa 1935

The photo shows Sig Masur and his employees in front of the Palace Department store. Sig is seated in the chair in the middle.

Selecting the Site of Ouachita Junior College

Back in 1930, the Ouachita Parish School Board and Police Jury decided to bring higher education to the Parish. The first problem, was selecting a site. A July 18, 1930 article listed the suggested sites: Dr. E.G. Calvert suggested 15 acres west of the railway, west of West Monroe and running through to Stella street. … Continue reading Selecting the Site of Ouachita Junior College →

Gay’s Menswear

This photo appeared in the News-Star on February 18, 1989.

Exploring down a rabbit hole!

While trying to think of a post to do for Halloween this year, I was searching through Halloween newspapers from various years. I found one article in the News Star on Halloween of 1935, page 5. It talks about how the first girl born at St. Francis hospital had returned and given birth at that … Continue reading Exploring down a rabbit hole! →

The Falling Picture Legend Untangled

Oh boy. This one is quite a tale. Last week, I did a Ghosts of Ouachita Parish talk and the creepy legend of the above picture was included. The very condensed version of the story you can probably find in a link below (I did a post about in Dec. 24, 2018) was that it … Continue reading The Falling Picture Legend Untangled →