New Iberia to Mamou on the SP Kaplan Only

Kaplan
One of the first reports written up on this blog dealt with Kaplan. I recently received a nice note in the Guestbook thanking me for it. That was not all, there were some goodies sent along, also. I thought about just passing them on with Ms.D's explanations. That would have been the easy way and really tempting since I'm criminally lazy. Her pictures are pretty large and you will only see them on this page as "thumbs". Click on them and the other pictures for larger versions.

Here we go. I'll try to get the incorporation synced correctly between her information and mine. I will submit it to her and hopefully she can fill in the blanks. If you see numbers and question marks by a picture, it was for her. This page has evolved and I may just split it since it is getting too hard to keep straight. Trying to inject her additions into my original write has become a challenge.



On my last outing I'd happened to ride through Kaplan and promised myself I'd come back and check out some of the old architecture I'd seen there. Riding west from the Youngsville area, I chanced to ride past a road sign which was pointing to Kaplan.

I rolled into town and went down the boulevard to reaffirm my perceived old architecture I had envisioned being there. The picture of the sign honoring Sammy was shot as you can't do a write involving Kaplan without shooting the sign. The inclusion of the "Hidden Treasures" part of the picture was an accident, but true. Kaplan has hidden treasures. Of course "treasures" is an subjective term. In the following group of Kaplan pictures, you may not think that some of the stuff should be included as a "treasure". That's fine. Let me try to change your mind.

The following is what I saw as I rode down Kaplan's main street, Cushing Ave., named after the Southern Pacific construction engineer that built the line through the area that would become Kaplan. That story would move me to investigate the whole branch from Abbeville to Eunice.
That's later.

The first building of interest was this one on the north end of the old town and its boulevard. What was the triangle all about? A pyramid? A Masonic symbol?

1-???


Ms.D. added this:
" I don't know what the triangle was for other than a window probably with fancy glass or something. I remember it was a furniture store about 20 years ago, then it became Christians Who Care with a little house in the front to store used items. Furniture store is owned by a Vincent".


Next on the east side of the boulevard was this little building, now the home of the "Key Clubbers", a high school organization.

2-???

Ms.D. added this, "that was the original city hall and jail, then it was a drivers license office, then the Key club building".



Though nothing special as far as architecture goes, Annie's Bar has a place here. I followed a link to some fella's website. There he said he was from Kaplan and that there was one bar for every 4 people in town. I may have that percentage off, but his inference was that watering holes were prolific.

Ms.D, who contributed all the historic pictures added to this page, remembers Annie's and the other establishments nearby, "I remember Annie's bar was a bar back then actually there were 2 bars side by side with a 3rd one at the back door of Annie's. Mom and Dad wouldn't let me walk alone in front of the open doors on my way to a store on the next block!"

It seems the fella was correct about the watering holes.



More buildings:

This theater must have been built in the grand '20's. Just a guess.




Here's Ms.D's offering, " This is [the old theater] and here is an old article on the theater, now Rad Rollers (this theater was later renamed Joy back when I went to the movies on Saturdays while Mom and Dad worked in the store next door)".

CLICK THESE FOR READABLE LARGER VERSIONS



Did you notice the kids and the bicycle out front? I wonder what was playing?





What is hard to see in the picture above is the building's original inscription, "U.L.Vincent". What was it? My guess is that U.L. pronounced his last name, "va-san", the French pronunciation.

Ms.D. adds, "U.L. VIncent's Store was originally General Merchandise. In the 60's it became L&L {my Dad (his name is Ewell and we pronounce it U L !!) and his brother Noah LaBry owned it}".

By accident I found this, The Vincent Site.



It seems Kaplan had been quite the prosperous town in the early part of the 20th Century.

??? Are these the Reaux and Broussard buildings?

Again, Ms.D. came through with more information, "Yes that is the Broussard and Reaux buildings. At one time [the front writing] said R. Broussard and Planter's Hardware, but Sammy Kershaw took over the building to use as the headquarters of his SK Foundation. The SK's people removed the letters". Here is another view this is the Casino theater aka Eleazar's theater.




Ms.D adds this and these great pictures,"....and here is an old clipping about that REAUX building and the Broussard building also included in your photo".

She added these old shots:









You must click the pictures to be able to read who was on the wagon.
And you thought they were construction workers.



Early 1900's
Left, Peoples Drug Store, family residence upstairs.
Mr. Eugene Eleazar's offices to the rear of the Drug Store

Right, General Merchandise Store and Movie Theater



I cut the pictures up so you can get a better look.






This was a cute little place.

5-???
Ms.D. adds, "That, I believe, was once a bar. or a short order restaurant or both (60's and before). What it is now I have no clue".




Then I headed back for another sweep to check if I had missed any of Cushing Street's treasures, and I had. The building below I mistook as a gift shop. The name, "Le Musee" is cute because it is so French. It could have been a restaurant, a coffee shop or a massage parlor? Over use of French without visible posted English translations has irked me in the past. I have my opinion of what is behind this. The best scenario, I see, is a lack of forethought.

I would have gone inside and checked out Le Musee if I had had the slightest idea that "musee" means museum. No I wouldn't have. I never get off my bike. Possibly the words under Le Musee' explain to the non- French speaking world what it is.

I asked if the banning of French took place in both Catholic and public schools. Ms.D offered this explanation:

Her words:

Cajuns were forbidden to speak French. The Catholic schools in the early 1900s were taught by nuns brought in by the French priests. Those wealthy enough to attend these schools were allowed to speak French and learned to write it as well. Before 1930, the small community of Cossinade between Leleux and Kaplan on highway 13 (now only a cemetery and green community markers indicate the existence of a community) boasted of a French school, privately owned and operated. At that same time, the public school teachers forced the Cajuns to deny their heritage by enforcing the use of only English. Many teachers changed the French names of students to English names. Several times, this was not just a translation but a complete name change.

Me: That explains it. Thank you.


Here's Vermillion Parish's site on Kaplan.


From this site comes this information, " In 1896, the Holy Rosary Catholic Church was established in the Kaplan area. Kaplan got it's name later when Abrom Kaplan bought the Jim Todd Plantation in 1901. Kaplan grew quickly and was established in 1902. On July 14, 1906, the first Bastille Day Celebration was held. In 1911, the Eleaszar Theater was built."

My note: "Kaplan" and "Todd" are not French names. The celebration of Bastille Day is very French. The Catholic Church is very French and the area, today, is very French though you see many German names. By the way, The Germans brought rice farming to southwest Louisiana. We'll see some of that in a moment

Here are her pictures of the celebration of opening of the railroad. I dissected the pictures so you can meet some of the folks a little better.









Ms. D's words:

The photo, above, was taken at the intersection of highway 35 and 14 looking north at Cushing. In center of photo is the Eleazar building and next to it the Casino Theater. It is of the Bastille Day Celebration.

Ms.D adds, "In the Bastille celebration photo, was that a man on stilts in the foreground, or did he just have long legs"?

Here a look closer:
The Breaux Brothers playing martial music.



Here's the Southern Pacific Station. This was a happy time in Kaplan. Big Picture, click it.



Neat carriage.



Fellas on the Southern Pacific Car 31999.



Below, The Museum, Le Mussee'.


My next move was to get off the main street and look back
in the neighborhoods. There I found a couple of interesting
places.



My guess is 1930's architecture. I'll betcha.

Then there was this fine old home. It is a "raised" home.
What I found interesting and did not shoot were the walls
for the "basement". They were very similar to what I've
seen on raised Greek Revival plantation homes.

Ms.D adds,"This home was owned by the Dr. Thomas
Latiolais. There is a smaller building that goes with
this house that was called a tea house. My folks
rented the tea house from the Dr.in the early 50's
for their home".

"I was told yesterday that this home was rolled
on logs to Kaplan from some location in the country".



Dave and I were just talking about how Sammy would be
a great Acadiana tour director. One of the job descriptions
for Lt.Gov. is to be the tourism czar.



Next it was on to Mill Road. There are dryers and storage
things and this and that I can't readily identify though
Mr.Baronet has preached and preached. I like massive
stuff and corrigated steel. I once did a line of writes where
I referred to them as castles. I still see them the same way.
I noticed the railroad, mentioned on that history page, is
gone. I don't think all the castles are still occupied, either.
But, some are as I heard the dryer fans running and there
was rice on the road. Pictues below:









Rice Seat, thank you.



Below is a worn mural on the side of a downtown store.
It depicts another hidden treasure of the area, or maybe
I should say unknown treasure, the environment.

The prairie and the swamp to the south are spectacular.
You need to visit them. Of course, a bike (any kind,
artificially or naturally propelled) or convertible car is
the way to go. The sky is a big part of the picture down
here and it shouldn't be missed either. Need I go further,
the smells, the breeze........



I'll close this chapter of Kaplan and Beyond with this picture.
If you read these things you open yourself for my rants
and my humor, such as it is.



Sorry, er, no I'm not.
That really made me laugh as morbidity is pretty funny at my age.

Beyond Kaplan was next.