I had brought a large container of ice water and there was an occasional breeze which all worked. Finally I heard the dispatcher ask the conductor, "Where are you getting too"? The train was out of range and I couldn't hear the reply, but it wasn't because of clickety clacks. I waited and so will you. The following is from HERE. The history part is pretty good. I squeezed the following from it.
Below is off and on from: BROUSSARD, LOUISIANA: A Brief History
It was compiled by J. HAROLD HOLLIER 1984
Here are a few facts. By the way, the Billeaud fellow is Wally's ancestor. You remember Wally?
"Credit for introducing sugar cane to the area goes to Martial Francois Billeaud. Born on August 25, 1834, in Borgneuf, France, he came to the United State at the age of two in 1836. By the age of 16 he was in Lafayette Parish. At the outset of the Civil War he was already an established and well respected land owner of the area. By 1890 he owned 1300 acres of land and a large sugar mill. Incidentally, he imported the first Holstein cattle to the area. As was the case with other owners of large tracts of land, Martial Billeaud also donated a right-of-way for the railroad across his land".
Martial was quite a guy. I've seen him mentioned concerning the Huron Plantation RR.
Broussard After the Civil War: "The town "rebounded fairly quickly from the Civil War. The railroad from New Orleans to Morgan City had been completed before the war, [later] building further west towards Broussard". "Finally, in 1878, the NewOrleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad Company (N.O.O. andG.W.) completed the railroad through the area bringing new prosperity to .. - 8 - .. the area by facilitating the transportation of farm produce exports and dry goods imports. Very shortly after the completion of the railroad two cotton gins and a cotton oil mill were constructed near the railroad depot. Several small sugar and syrup mills were operated by a few large landowners of the area. During that time the main thoroughfare in Broussard was Morgan Avenue, a street running north-south with the north end of the street accessing the railroad depot.
{use a liberal interpretation of the directions}
"Under the guidance of Valsin Broussard, Martial Billeaud, Joseph Girouard, and J. Gustave St. Julien the town of Broussard grew and prospered. At the turn of the century Broussard boasted of the following: a cotton oil mill, two cotton gins, several small sugar and syrup mills, one large sugar mill, five general merchandise stores, a bank, two hotels, and a railway express and passenger depot. Eventually, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company absorbed the N.O.O. and G.W.Railroad Company. Trains moving from coast to coast have been running through Broussard regularly since then".
"In following with the plans for the construction of a national highway system, U.S. Highway 90 was constructed, and it ran, in part, along the Old Spanish Trail which runs through Broussard. Increased utilization of motor vehicles as a means of transportation caused the people of Broussard to devote more of their services to this mode of travel. This resulted in a gradual shift of the main thoroughfare from Morgan Avenue to what is presently called Main Street (old U.S. 90, presently LA 182)".
Now the business center is around what will become the lower part of I-49.
OK, think I hear the Sunset uh-coming.
First, an example of historical Broussard mentioned in the full write.
And here is Morgan Ave. It runs from the southwest to
the northeast crossing the railroad at First St. I was at
Morgan and Second. I'd turn right and then left onto First Street.
Map time.
This is how it is now. North Morgan is the "N. Mo" seen at
the top of this map. I used the old map, below, to place the
approximate location of the depot. Let's drop down to the
next map.
The flag is off a bit, granted, as this is a low budget blog
and receives grants from no one. Rolling back and forth you
can see the changes that have occurred with the loss of
the sidetrack. I was standing on that sidetrack when
I shot Sunset's entry.
First Street was a dead end probably servicing the yard
or sidetrack. After the track's removal, it was lengthened.
One more thing, I keep seeing the name Eola where railroads
are. There is an Eola, La. where the T&P crossed the SP,
near Bunkie and Cheneyville. It's probably nothing.
Party Time.
Yes, photography can be fun. It can move large water towers.
"Freight from the Ditch" is tomorrow's feature (taken today,
but I have to mow tomorrow so I can't fetch a new one)
Was that a reason or an excuse?