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What was once a charming and nostalgic step back in time is now a depressing look at the toll time and neglect can take.
There once was this magnificent house in Florien, Louisiana (southern part of Sabine Parish). A beautiful, stately home… Once practically considered a mansion in the tiny village. The home became known, quite aptly, as The Dover House.
Reverend A. N. Backus dreamed of it.
Wealthy planter T. M. Gatlin provided financial backing and donated the land on which to build it.
And in 1857, it officially opened its doors.
Continue reading “On this site stood a female college…”
While searching for something totally unrelated at the Sabine Parish Library, I came across rather fascinating articles on a local fisherman who apparently has been quite the celebrity in the fishing world.
The first article is from The Shreveport Times, entitled “The Quiet Champion” and dated June 2004; while the second is from Louisiana Conservationist, entitled “The Best of the Bass Anglers” and dated September 1981.
Continue reading ““The Best of the Bass Anglers””
Some people know of it. Most do not. It was the Steamboat Harry Lee, a steamboat which once was docked on the Sabine River and was used as a gambling establishment.
In West Central Louisiana, in the middle of a 225-acre man-made lake at a State Park named Hodges Gardens, there stands a remarkable, gigantic house… seeming deserted, empty and lonely. Atop the peak of an island, the house seems to stand proudly as testament to its once glory, and yet simultaneously slouching, a bit ashamed of the shape it is now in.
Update to Miller Store of Toro: If these walls could talk
After reading the previous article on the Miller Store, aka Castleberry’s, Janell Fitts Richards shared some great photos of the store (it was Castleberry’s when Janell was young, and was operated by Mrs. Castleberry who was the daughter of previous owner Mr. Miller).
“My mom remembers this store from her youth (she was born in 1924),” Janell explained. “It was Castleberry’s when I was young. I took my children there in the early 80s and it was a museum of all the old items that had been used in the store.”
These photos are so great, and I know will be appreciated by many. Thank you for sharing them with us, Janell!
Continue reading “Photos shared from Miller’s Store (later Castleberry’s) of Toro Community”
From the collection of Mr. D. T. Kent, these are some photos from early to mid 1900s of Call School in Newton County, Texas
While dining a few months ago at a Logansport, Louisiana restaurant, I noticed a photograph mounted under the glass of one of the tables. The vintage photograph (sixties or seventies, based on the “look” of the photo) depicted dozens of people having a whale of a time at a lake.
The lake, I learned, was named “Crystal” and it had quite a story behind it.
Continue reading ““Million memories” created at Crystal Lake in Shelby County, Texas”
Now in its fourth or third or fifth week (something like that), the dismantling of the old U. S. Hwy. 84 bridge crossing the Sabine River continues.
Continue reading “A bridge being dismantled”
Aerial footage showing boating, fishing, jet skiing on Toledo Bend Reservoir. Footage taken on a beautiful Saturday, Feb. 13.
