Garyville Northern Railroad. . .
Incorporated in Louisiansa on June 4, 1915
Track Length in June 30, 1919:
18.727 miles on the first main track
2.758 miles of yard track and sidings
Railroad Equipment
1 steam locomotive (leased from Lyons Lumber Co.)
2 Passenger cars
By construction:
In 1917, 18.727 miles were built.
Lyon Lumber Logging RR connected Garyville to Livingston
Controlled by the Lyon Lumber Company
Not a whole lot of info there. I thought I'd add a little.
It kinda got out of hand.
Before we get started I'd like to report a lost engine.
Now this is close to "hearsay".
If true, there was more than one engine.
There were at least 3. Just a hint.
As you will find out below, you can't believe anything you find on the web.
This afternoon while my wife was away I resorted to my sure cure for boredom, combing old maps. I found 3 old railroads. One sounded familiar, but not this one. It is the Garyville & Northern or Garyville Northern. I'm not going to get into a long spread of information now. I'm only going to paste one article and make a few comments. I've found the "lands" around Lake Maurepas very mysterious to the point of pursuing a rigorous investigation though I had no idea for what I was looking, only that I was. The same is apparent here.
I'm getting off course but let me continue just a bit more. I started in Ponchatoula a long time ago.
Incorporated in Louisiansa on June 4, 1915
Track Length in June 30, 1919:
18.727 miles on the first main track
2.758 miles of yard track and sidings
Railroad Equipment
1 steam locomotive (leased from Lyons Lumber Co.)
2 Passenger cars
By construction:
In 1917, 18.727 miles were built.
Lyon Lumber Logging RR connected Garyville to Livingston
Controlled by the Lyon Lumber Company
Not a whole lot of info there. I thought I'd add a little.
It kinda got out of hand.
Before we get started I'd like to report a lost engine.
Now this is close to "hearsay".
There were at least 3. Just a hint.
As you will find out below, you can't believe anything you find on the web.
This afternoon while my wife was away I resorted to my sure cure for boredom, combing old maps. I found 3 old railroads. One sounded familiar, but not this one. It is the Garyville & Northern or Garyville Northern. I'm not going to get into a long spread of information now. I'm only going to paste one article and make a few comments. I've found the "lands" around Lake Maurepas very mysterious to the point of pursuing a rigorous investigation though I had no idea for what I was looking, only that I was. The same is apparent here.
I'm getting off course but let me continue just a bit more. I started in Ponchatoula a long time ago.
I did not investigate the Louisiana Cypress Co., further.
I was not into RR history. I'd seen rusting engines before.
Of course that has changed.
Today, as I said, I found the G&N RR crossing a backwater marsh (on a 1934 map)
I, after hours, was able to tack the entire line together. (short of the Livingston to Montpelier section)
With the maps, the collection of information is astounding.
The Ponchatoula Times had this: The webpage displayed folded scanned newspaper pages.
High tech had not arrived.
The article is a historical manuscript.
This is about getting the above engine to its present location with a little valuable info strewn about.
I was not into RR history. I'd seen rusting engines before.
Of course that has changed.
Today, as I said, I found the G&N RR crossing a backwater marsh (on a 1934 map)
I, after hours, was able to tack the entire line together. (short of the Livingston to Montpelier section)
With the maps, the collection of information is astounding.
The Ponchatoula Times had this: The webpage displayed folded scanned newspaper pages.
High tech had not arrived.
The article is a historical manuscript.
This is about getting the above engine to its present location with a little valuable info strewn about.
Notes on the "above".
I have not found the link to Montpelier. I'll leave it at that.
I'll let you decide after I display the maps I have of the "for sure" route.
Note: I've found a picture of the Tally Ho Depot and wondered
what that was all about. Now we know.
what that was all about. Now we know.
The picture of the Tally-Ho railroad station in Louisiana circa 1968 is below.
From the La. Digital Library:
Description B&W photo, circa 1968. Tally-Ho Railroad station. Located on the property of Mr. & Mrs. William E. Butler along with five railroad engines, a roundhouse and a mile long track collected by Mr. Butler as a hobby. Note: location within Louisiana unknown.
From the La. Digital Library:
Description B&W photo, circa 1968. Tally-Ho Railroad station. Located on the property of Mr. & Mrs. William E. Butler along with five railroad engines, a roundhouse and a mile long track collected by Mr. Butler as a hobby. Note: location within Louisiana unknown.
Let's move on.
Continued from above:
Notes on the "above".
A connection is found here. Mrs. Beatrice Joyce Kean of Chicago wears the
"Joyce" name proudly. You see, her family owned the Tremont and Gulf RR.
If you want to know a little about them, CLICK HERE
THE LINK HAS BEEN FIXED.
IT IS A GOOD ONE
She was said to be one of the richest women in the world.
She also liked trains, thus her insistence on the care of No.3.
"Joyce" name proudly. You see, her family owned the Tremont and Gulf RR.
If you want to know a little about them, CLICK HERE
THE LINK HAS BEEN FIXED.
IT IS A GOOD ONE
She was said to be one of the richest women in the world.
She also liked trains, thus her insistence on the care of No.3.
Below from here: http://www.livingstonparishla.gov/about-us/history/
Livingston is located in the heart of the heavily forested area of the parish. Although numerous other trees are common in and around Livingston, particularly hardwoods in the low area, it was the pine, then as now, that attracted the lumber companies to Livingston. In fact, a lumber company , the Lyon Lumber Company of Chicago, Illinois, brought the town into existence.
The Lyon Lumber Co. was incorporated in Louisiana on January 3, 1903, as the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company, with John William Gary as president and John Kellogg Lyon as secretary. The company established a sawmill at Garyville in St. John the Baptist Parish, directly south of Livingston, to cut cypress logs into lumber. The company extended a logging railroad into the cypress swamp north of Garyville to carry logs to the mill. As the cypress was cut, the railroad was extended northward.
By 1915, the company had reached the Amite River and the end of the cypress. The mill was remodeled to cut pine and hardwood. The name of the company was also changed at this time to Lyon Lumber Co. It was also in 1915, on June 4, that the Garyville Northern Railroad Company was incorporated under the general law of Louisiana.
Their first objective in Livingston Parish was to acquire an appropriate crossing location with the Baton Rouge to Hammond railroad, which was then known as the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, now the Illinois Central Gulf. Since most of the Lyon Lumber Co.’s land holding’s in Livingston Parish was generally centered on the old town of Doyle (now a part of Livingston); the company wanted to purchase land in Doyle.
However, the company was unable to acquire enough land for their facilities in the existing town of Doyle, which was laid out in lots soon after the Baton Rouge, Hammond & Eastern Railroad was completed in 1908. They therefore selected the vacant land just west of Doyle as the site for their new facilities, which included, among other things, a railroad station, a coal chute, and repair sheds.
The present north-south road from Livingston through Frost to Verdun, LA Hwy 63, occupies the old Garyville Northern roadbed. By train, the town of Garyville was 35 miles south of Livingston.
The new town of Livingston was entirely company-owned by an affiliate of the Lyon Lumber Co., the Garyville Land Co., Inc. It was surveyed into lots in april of 1917. A provision was made for a park when the town was laid out. Today, the courthouse complex occupies the park site.
The extent to which Livingston was a company town can be seen from records that reveal that “when all the timber was cut (about 1931), the company closed and everyone moved away except about twelve families. The company sold everything – even the church.”
Me: Again you can see that the above article is dated by its usage of "ICG". And I do believe the Lyon Lumber Co. (of Chicago) and the Joyce's may be related by more than marriage. That later.
Livingston is located in the heart of the heavily forested area of the parish. Although numerous other trees are common in and around Livingston, particularly hardwoods in the low area, it was the pine, then as now, that attracted the lumber companies to Livingston. In fact, a lumber company , the Lyon Lumber Company of Chicago, Illinois, brought the town into existence.
The Lyon Lumber Co. was incorporated in Louisiana on January 3, 1903, as the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company, with John William Gary as president and John Kellogg Lyon as secretary. The company established a sawmill at Garyville in St. John the Baptist Parish, directly south of Livingston, to cut cypress logs into lumber. The company extended a logging railroad into the cypress swamp north of Garyville to carry logs to the mill. As the cypress was cut, the railroad was extended northward.
By 1915, the company had reached the Amite River and the end of the cypress. The mill was remodeled to cut pine and hardwood. The name of the company was also changed at this time to Lyon Lumber Co. It was also in 1915, on June 4, that the Garyville Northern Railroad Company was incorporated under the general law of Louisiana.
Their first objective in Livingston Parish was to acquire an appropriate crossing location with the Baton Rouge to Hammond railroad, which was then known as the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, now the Illinois Central Gulf. Since most of the Lyon Lumber Co.’s land holding’s in Livingston Parish was generally centered on the old town of Doyle (now a part of Livingston); the company wanted to purchase land in Doyle.
However, the company was unable to acquire enough land for their facilities in the existing town of Doyle, which was laid out in lots soon after the Baton Rouge, Hammond & Eastern Railroad was completed in 1908. They therefore selected the vacant land just west of Doyle as the site for their new facilities, which included, among other things, a railroad station, a coal chute, and repair sheds.
The present north-south road from Livingston through Frost to Verdun, LA Hwy 63, occupies the old Garyville Northern roadbed. By train, the town of Garyville was 35 miles south of Livingston.
The new town of Livingston was entirely company-owned by an affiliate of the Lyon Lumber Co., the Garyville Land Co., Inc. It was surveyed into lots in april of 1917. A provision was made for a park when the town was laid out. Today, the courthouse complex occupies the park site.
The extent to which Livingston was a company town can be seen from records that reveal that “when all the timber was cut (about 1931), the company closed and everyone moved away except about twelve families. The company sold everything – even the church.”
Me: Again you can see that the above article is dated by its usage of "ICG". And I do believe the Lyon Lumber Co. (of Chicago) and the Joyce's may be related by more than marriage. That later.
This is similar but not a repeat:
History of Livingston
The Lyon Lumber Company of Chicago, Illinois, brought the town into existence. Lyon Lumber established a sawmill at Garyville in St. John the Baptist Parish, directly south of Livingston, to cut cypress logs into lumber. The company extended a logging railroad into the cypress swamp north of Garyville to carry logs to the mill. As the cypress was cut, the railroad was extended northward.
By 1915, the company had reached the Amite River and the end of the cypress. The mill was remodeled to cut pine and hardwood. On June 4, 1915, the Garyville Northern Railroad Company was incorporated under the general law of Louisiana. Their first objective in Livingston Parish was to acquire an appropriate crossing location with the Baton Rouge to Hammond railroad, which was then known as the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, now the Illinois Central Gulf.(now the CN)
Since most of the Lyon Lumber Co.'s land holdings in Livingston Parish was generally centered on the old town of Doyle (now a part of Livingston); the company wanted to purchase land in Doyle. However, the company was unable to acquire enough land for their facilities in the existing town of Doyle, which was laid out in lots soon after the Baton Rouge; Hammond & Eastern Railroad was completed in 1908. They therefore selected the vacant land just west of Doyle as the site for their new facilities, which included, among other things, a railroad station, a coal chute, and repair sheds.
The new town of Livingston was entirely company-owned by an affiliate of the Lyon Lumber Co., the Garyville Land Co., Inc. It was surveyed into lots in April of 1917. A provision was made for a park when the town was laid out. Today, the courthouse complex occupies the park site.
(Above Source: Town of Livingston website:
LIVINGSTON became the parish seat in 1941 when the courthouse was moved
there from Centerville (Springville). The town is situated approximately
in the north-central part of the parish, about 25 miles east of Baton
Rouge on US Highway 190.
Livingston is located in the heart of the heavily forested pine-
tree-growing area of the parish. Although numerous other trees are
common in and around Livingston, particularly hardwoods in the low areas,
it was the pine, then as now, that attracted the lumber companies to
Livingston. In fact, the town was brought into existence by a lumber
company, the Lyon Lumber Company of Chicago, Illinois.
The Lyon Lumber Co. was incorporated in Louisiana on January 3, 1903,
as the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company. The company's domicile was Chicago
and the amount of the capital stock was $2,000,000. (1) The 1911
edition of the Book of Chicagoans lists John William Gary (born 1859)
as president and John Kellogg Lyon as secretary of the Lyon Cypress
Lumber Co.
The Lyon Lumber Company established a sawmill at Garyville in St.
John the Baptist parish, directly south of Livingston, to cut cypress
logs into lumber. The company extended a logging railroad into the
cypress swamp north of Garyville to carry the logs to the mill. As
the cypress was cut, the railroad was extended northward. By 1915,
the company had reached the Amite River and the end of the cypress.
According to the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Jean M. Eyraud and Donald J.
Millet, authors of the book A History of St. John the Baptist Parish,
it was at this time that "the mill was thoroughly remodeled so as
to cut pine and hardwood." The name of the company was also changed
at this time to Lyon Lumber Co. (2)
It was also in 1915 on June 4 that the Garyville Northern Rail-
road Company was incorporated under the general laws of Louisiana.
This railroad was, no doubt, incorporated as a separate company by
the owners of the Lyon Lumber company to enable them to make the
maximum profit possible.
By having a separate railroad company, the could charge freight
fees and also deduct any losses which might accrue from the operation
of their passenger train. These contentions seem to borne out by
a copy of a valuation report on the Garyville Northern Railroad Co.
which was prepared by the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission. The
copy is dated March 3, 1926, and was obtained from Judge Leon Ford III
of Hammond.
It states in part that "the carrier is an industrial railroad,
controlled in the interest of the Lyon Lumber Company. The principal
traffic is lumber and forest products, the bulk of which is furnished
by the controlling industry." Under equipment, the report states that
"the equipment owned by the carrier consists of two passenger train
cars. In addition, one steam locomotive is leased from the Lyon Lumber Co."
I'll insert this because the companies desire to segregate the line from the company
as a "common carrier" would come back to bite them in 1920 and 1928.
It would invite government oversight which we know can be prejudiced often by
"populace" officials.
One was in 1920.
The next involved the famous Dudley J. Leblanc.
This was taken from HERE.
1928 *After the cypress had been cut out.
* The ambitious politician was hard at work.
Regardless of the original intentions of the incorporators of the
Garyville Northern, their first objective in Livingston Parish was to
acquire an appropriate crossing location with the Baton Rouge to Hammond
railroad, which was then known as the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad,
now the Illinois Central Gulf.
Since most of the Lyon Lumber Co.'s land holdings in Livingston Parish
were obtained from the Frost-Johnson Lumber Co. and these were generally cen-
tered around the old town of Doyle, now a part of Livingston, the company had
wanted to purchase land in Doyle.
However, according to Mr. Harrison McCullough, a former employee of
the Lyon Lumber Co., the company was unable to acquire enough land for their
facilities in the existing town of Doyle, which was laid out in lots soon
after the Baton Rouge, Hammond & Eastern Railroad was completed in 1908.
They therefore selected the vacant land just west of Doyle as the site
for their new facilities which included, among other things, a railroad
station, a coal chute, and repair sheds. (3) The present north-south road
from Livingston through Frost to Verdun, State Highway 63, occupies the
old Garyville Northern roadbed. By train, the town of Garyville was 35
miles south of Livingston.
The town was entirely company-owned by an affiliate of the Lyon
Lumber Co., the Garyville Land Co., Inc. It was surveyed into lots by
E.G. Freiler, C.E. and Surveyor, in April, 1917. (4) Mr. McCullough
said a provision was even made for a park when the town was laid out.
Today the park site is occupied by the courthouse complex.
The extent to which Livingston was a company town can be seen from
the following remarks by Mrs. McCollough, "When all the timber was cut,
the company closed and everyone moved away (about 1931) except about
twelve families. The company sold everything - they even sold our
church."
The town was, without a doubt, named for the parish, which was
named for Edward Livingston. However, it is not known who gave it the
name or when the name Livingston was given to the town. The post office
was established there on August 7, 1917, with Edwin A. Leland as the
first postmaster.
Ben Singletary was appointed on Jan. 9, 1918; Daisy Busby, Nov. 5, 1918;
and M. Gayle Magee, Nov. 27, 1920. Her name was changed to McCullough
by marriage. Postal records after 1930 have not yet been collected.
The town was incorporated on November 4, 1955, with the following
officials: Winston Hoover, Mayor; Victor Smart; Fuqua Sibley and Willie
Lee Duffy, Aldermen; and Johnnie Sartwell, Marshall. (5)
As in the past, the harvesting of forest products still plays a
major role in the economic life of the town and, in fact, the major
employer near Livingston today is Crown Zellerbach Corp.
-----------------
(1) Report of the Secretary of State, State of Louisiana, January 1, 1905.
(2) Eyraud, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Jean M. and Donald J. Millet, A History of St.
John the Baptist Parish, The Hope Haven Press, Marrero, La., 1939, p. 49.
(3) Personal interview by Clark Forrest, Jr. with Mr. and Mrs. Harrison
McCollough on December 6, 1971. Mr. McCullough was born on June 6, 1896.
(4) Map of Town of Livingston, Livingston Parish Clerk of Court's Office.
(5) Sartwell, Annie Lou, "The History of Livingston," n.p., n.d.
* * * * *
This from the Frost perspective.
FROST was once the site of the McCarroll Lumber Company's saw mill, planing
mill, and dry kiln, as well as a terminal for the company's logging railroad
and a stopping place for the Garyville Northern Railroad owned by the Lyon
Lumber Company.
Researching "McCarroll", I found this on the Wiki "Holden" page.
"Another person who contributed to the economic growth of the area was James "Jim" F. McCarroll, who had the town surveyed into lots. Owner of the McCarroll Lumber Co., he established a sawmill about 1909 and contracted with the railroad for a spur track to his mill south of the railroad on the east bank of the Tickfaw River."
This is not the same mill as was in or near Frost.
McCarroll was very active in Holden's future.
To connect to one Frost's engines, CLICK HERE. and scroll down a bit.
A Holden engine HERE.
Today the community is a residential area with several stores and an
elementary school in the vicinity of the intersection of La. Hwys. 63 and
42. Highway 63 occupies the old Garyville Northern roadbed from Livingston
to Verdun, a small settlement four miles south of Frost.
The first use of a railroad underpass at ground level in Livingston
Parish occurred at Frost. (When the McCarroll mill was located in Holden,
its logging train crossed the Illinois Central Railroad by going under
their bridge over the Tickfaw River.) The McCarroll railroad, in order
to cross the Garyville Northern at Frost, had to construct an underpass
beneath the Garyville.
When Jim McCarroll moved the mill to Frost in 1919, he needed a name
for the location because a post office was to be established to serve
the mill and the surrounding area. He finally named it after E.A. Frost,
one of the owners of the Frost-Johnson Lumber Company which had a large
holding in Livingston Parish in the early 1900's. McCarroll purchased
much of his timber land from Frost-Johnson.
The town started to develop when the mills and kiln were located
there. The walls of the dry kiln are still standing today. Numerous
whites and negroes worked to produce lumber which went by rail to Gary-
ville or to Livingston.
Because of its rapid growth, Frost was laid out in lots in order
to achieve maximum use of the available land. It was surveyed by Henry
Landry. In an interview with Clark Forrest, Jr., Mrs. Elvie Smiley
Efferson stated that at the height of the development in Frost, the town
had a Baptist church and a Methodist church, two hotels, two beauty
shops, and two meat markets. It also had three grocery stores, one
theatre, a dentist, a doctor, and numerous houses.
The Frost Post Office was first established at Colyell and named
Colyell Post Office on November 20, 1885, according to records of the
Post Office Department (Record Group 28) in the National Archives. The
post office's location and its name were changed to Frost on June 19, 1919.
Colyell is a settlement about two miles west of Frost.
The Frost Post Office closed permanently on May 31, 1954, and the
end of Frost's prosperity came when the timber supply was depleted
in 1931. -- Clark Forrest, Jr.
The "pond" near "42" is the likely location of the mill.
The Garyville Northern was "63".
From this quote:
"The McCarroll railroad, in order to cross the Garyville Northern at Frost,
had to construct an underpass beneath the Garyville"
I would suspect that La.42 was the McCarroll ROW.
The Lyon Lumber Company of Chicago, Illinois, brought the town into existence. Lyon Lumber established a sawmill at Garyville in St. John the Baptist Parish, directly south of Livingston, to cut cypress logs into lumber. The company extended a logging railroad into the cypress swamp north of Garyville to carry logs to the mill. As the cypress was cut, the railroad was extended northward.
By 1915, the company had reached the Amite River and the end of the cypress. The mill was remodeled to cut pine and hardwood. On June 4, 1915, the Garyville Northern Railroad Company was incorporated under the general law of Louisiana. Their first objective in Livingston Parish was to acquire an appropriate crossing location with the Baton Rouge to Hammond railroad, which was then known as the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, now the Illinois Central Gulf.(now the CN)
Since most of the Lyon Lumber Co.'s land holdings in Livingston Parish was generally centered on the old town of Doyle (now a part of Livingston); the company wanted to purchase land in Doyle. However, the company was unable to acquire enough land for their facilities in the existing town of Doyle, which was laid out in lots soon after the Baton Rouge; Hammond & Eastern Railroad was completed in 1908. They therefore selected the vacant land just west of Doyle as the site for their new facilities, which included, among other things, a railroad station, a coal chute, and repair sheds.
The new town of Livingston was entirely company-owned by an affiliate of the Lyon Lumber Co., the Garyville Land Co., Inc. It was surveyed into lots in April of 1917. A provision was made for a park when the town was laid out. Today, the courthouse complex occupies the park site.
(Above Source: Town of Livingston website:
LIVINGSTON became the parish seat in 1941 when the courthouse was moved
there from Centerville (Springville). The town is situated approximately
in the north-central part of the parish, about 25 miles east of Baton
Rouge on US Highway 190.
Livingston is located in the heart of the heavily forested pine-
tree-growing area of the parish. Although numerous other trees are
common in and around Livingston, particularly hardwoods in the low areas,
it was the pine, then as now, that attracted the lumber companies to
Livingston. In fact, the town was brought into existence by a lumber
company, the Lyon Lumber Company of Chicago, Illinois.
The Lyon Lumber Co. was incorporated in Louisiana on January 3, 1903,
as the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company. The company's domicile was Chicago
and the amount of the capital stock was $2,000,000. (1) The 1911
edition of the Book of Chicagoans lists John William Gary (born 1859)
as president and John Kellogg Lyon as secretary of the Lyon Cypress
Lumber Co.
The Lyon Lumber Company established a sawmill at Garyville in St.
John the Baptist parish, directly south of Livingston, to cut cypress
logs into lumber. The company extended a logging railroad into the
cypress swamp north of Garyville to carry the logs to the mill. As
the cypress was cut, the railroad was extended northward. By 1915,
the company had reached the Amite River and the end of the cypress.
According to the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Jean M. Eyraud and Donald J.
Millet, authors of the book A History of St. John the Baptist Parish,
it was at this time that "the mill was thoroughly remodeled so as
to cut pine and hardwood." The name of the company was also changed
at this time to Lyon Lumber Co. (2)
It was also in 1915 on June 4 that the Garyville Northern Rail-
road Company was incorporated under the general laws of Louisiana.
This railroad was, no doubt, incorporated as a separate company by
the owners of the Lyon Lumber company to enable them to make the
maximum profit possible.
By having a separate railroad company, the could charge freight
fees and also deduct any losses which might accrue from the operation
of their passenger train. These contentions seem to borne out by
a copy of a valuation report on the Garyville Northern Railroad Co.
which was prepared by the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission. The
copy is dated March 3, 1926, and was obtained from Judge Leon Ford III
of Hammond.
It states in part that "the carrier is an industrial railroad,
controlled in the interest of the Lyon Lumber Company. The principal
traffic is lumber and forest products, the bulk of which is furnished
by the controlling industry." Under equipment, the report states that
"the equipment owned by the carrier consists of two passenger train
cars. In addition, one steam locomotive is leased from the Lyon Lumber Co."
I'll insert this because the companies desire to segregate the line from the company
as a "common carrier" would come back to bite them in 1920 and 1928.
It would invite government oversight which we know can be prejudiced often by
"populace" officials.
One was in 1920.
The next involved the famous Dudley J. Leblanc.
This was taken from HERE.
1928 *After the cypress had been cut out.
* The ambitious politician was hard at work.
Garyville Northern, their first objective in Livingston Parish was to
acquire an appropriate crossing location with the Baton Rouge to Hammond
railroad, which was then known as the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad,
now the Illinois Central Gulf.
Since most of the Lyon Lumber Co.'s land holdings in Livingston Parish
were obtained from the Frost-Johnson Lumber Co. and these were generally cen-
tered around the old town of Doyle, now a part of Livingston, the company had
wanted to purchase land in Doyle.
However, according to Mr. Harrison McCullough, a former employee of
the Lyon Lumber Co., the company was unable to acquire enough land for their
facilities in the existing town of Doyle, which was laid out in lots soon
after the Baton Rouge, Hammond & Eastern Railroad was completed in 1908.
They therefore selected the vacant land just west of Doyle as the site
for their new facilities which included, among other things, a railroad
station, a coal chute, and repair sheds. (3) The present north-south road
from Livingston through Frost to Verdun, State Highway 63, occupies the
old Garyville Northern roadbed. By train, the town of Garyville was 35
miles south of Livingston.
The town was entirely company-owned by an affiliate of the Lyon
Lumber Co., the Garyville Land Co., Inc. It was surveyed into lots by
E.G. Freiler, C.E. and Surveyor, in April, 1917. (4) Mr. McCullough
said a provision was even made for a park when the town was laid out.
Today the park site is occupied by the courthouse complex.
The extent to which Livingston was a company town can be seen from
the following remarks by Mrs. McCollough, "When all the timber was cut,
the company closed and everyone moved away (about 1931) except about
twelve families. The company sold everything - they even sold our
church."
The town was, without a doubt, named for the parish, which was
named for Edward Livingston. However, it is not known who gave it the
name or when the name Livingston was given to the town. The post office
was established there on August 7, 1917, with Edwin A. Leland as the
first postmaster.
Ben Singletary was appointed on Jan. 9, 1918; Daisy Busby, Nov. 5, 1918;
and M. Gayle Magee, Nov. 27, 1920. Her name was changed to McCullough
by marriage. Postal records after 1930 have not yet been collected.
The town was incorporated on November 4, 1955, with the following
officials: Winston Hoover, Mayor; Victor Smart; Fuqua Sibley and Willie
Lee Duffy, Aldermen; and Johnnie Sartwell, Marshall. (5)
As in the past, the harvesting of forest products still plays a
major role in the economic life of the town and, in fact, the major
employer near Livingston today is Crown Zellerbach Corp.
-----------------
(1) Report of the Secretary of State, State of Louisiana, January 1, 1905.
(2) Eyraud, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Jean M. and Donald J. Millet, A History of St.
John the Baptist Parish, The Hope Haven Press, Marrero, La., 1939, p. 49.
(3) Personal interview by Clark Forrest, Jr. with Mr. and Mrs. Harrison
McCollough on December 6, 1971. Mr. McCullough was born on June 6, 1896.
(4) Map of Town of Livingston, Livingston Parish Clerk of Court's Office.
(5) Sartwell, Annie Lou, "The History of Livingston," n.p., n.d.
* * * * *
This from the Frost perspective.
FROST was once the site of the McCarroll Lumber Company's saw mill, planing
mill, and dry kiln, as well as a terminal for the company's logging railroad
and a stopping place for the Garyville Northern Railroad owned by the Lyon
Lumber Company.
Researching "McCarroll", I found this on the Wiki "Holden" page.
"Another person who contributed to the economic growth of the area was James "Jim" F. McCarroll, who had the town surveyed into lots. Owner of the McCarroll Lumber Co., he established a sawmill about 1909 and contracted with the railroad for a spur track to his mill south of the railroad on the east bank of the Tickfaw River."
This is not the same mill as was in or near Frost.
McCarroll was very active in Holden's future.
To connect to one Frost's engines, CLICK HERE. and scroll down a bit.
A Holden engine HERE.
Today the community is a residential area with several stores and an
elementary school in the vicinity of the intersection of La. Hwys. 63 and
42. Highway 63 occupies the old Garyville Northern roadbed from Livingston
to Verdun, a small settlement four miles south of Frost.
The first use of a railroad underpass at ground level in Livingston
Parish occurred at Frost. (When the McCarroll mill was located in Holden,
its logging train crossed the Illinois Central Railroad by going under
their bridge over the Tickfaw River.) The McCarroll railroad, in order
to cross the Garyville Northern at Frost, had to construct an underpass
beneath the Garyville.
When Jim McCarroll moved the mill to Frost in 1919, he needed a name
for the location because a post office was to be established to serve
the mill and the surrounding area. He finally named it after E.A. Frost,
one of the owners of the Frost-Johnson Lumber Company which had a large
holding in Livingston Parish in the early 1900's. McCarroll purchased
much of his timber land from Frost-Johnson.
The town started to develop when the mills and kiln were located
there. The walls of the dry kiln are still standing today. Numerous
whites and negroes worked to produce lumber which went by rail to Gary-
ville or to Livingston.
Because of its rapid growth, Frost was laid out in lots in order
to achieve maximum use of the available land. It was surveyed by Henry
Landry. In an interview with Clark Forrest, Jr., Mrs. Elvie Smiley
Efferson stated that at the height of the development in Frost, the town
had a Baptist church and a Methodist church, two hotels, two beauty
shops, and two meat markets. It also had three grocery stores, one
theatre, a dentist, a doctor, and numerous houses.
The Frost Post Office was first established at Colyell and named
Colyell Post Office on November 20, 1885, according to records of the
Post Office Department (Record Group 28) in the National Archives. The
post office's location and its name were changed to Frost on June 19, 1919.
Colyell is a settlement about two miles west of Frost.
The Frost Post Office closed permanently on May 31, 1954, and the
end of Frost's prosperity came when the timber supply was depleted
in 1931. -- Clark Forrest, Jr.
The "pond" near "42" is the likely location of the mill.
The Garyville Northern was "63".
From this quote:
"The McCarroll railroad, in order to cross the Garyville Northern at Frost,
had to construct an underpass beneath the Garyville"
I would suspect that La.42 was the McCarroll ROW.
Now I'm going to focus on Garyville.
This article is from Here
Read down the columns.
Assorted Pictures
Personal Accounts
The Brignac Family Contribution from Here
The Garyville & Northern Railroad 1896-1937
By Bobby Hill
There is a small town on the east bank of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans named Garyville. In the early nineteen-hundreds there was a logging railroad that ran north from Garyville into the cypress swamps. It was built to haul cypress trees harvested from the swamp to the mill in Garyville. As the trees were cut, the line was extended further northward. By 1915, the company had reached the Amite River and the end of the cypress forest. At that time the mill in Garyville was completely remodeled to handle pine and hardwoods, and the rail line was extended northward across the Amite by way of a swing span bridge at Whitehall. The bridge went into operation on 09 December, 1915.
It was after this time, probably around 1920 or so, that the residents of French Settlement were using the rail line as a means of transportation to Baton Rouge or New Orleans. They would be taken, by horse and wagon, to the town of Frost to board a flat car (containing a water tank) and ride it south to Whitehall, just across the Amite River, where they would transfer to a passenger car for the remainder of the trip to Garyville. There they could catch a train to Baton Rouge or New Orleans on The Illinois Central line.
My mother, Della Brignac, told of one of her experiences during these times: She made the trip numerous times, transporting others to Frost. On occasion, there might be two wagon loads of people. Della would drive one wagon and her father, Henry would drive the other. Sometimes they would be coming home after dark. Henry would drive ahead in his wagon with Della following. Every few minutes he would strike a match to show where he was - sometimes he was immediately ahead and some times he was several hundred yards ahead. Della’s horse probably didn’t know the way home, so Henry would make sure they stayed together until they got closer to home, where Della’s horse would recognize the area and “head for the barn”.
It was almost an all-day trip from French Settlement to Baton Rouge by this route. Later, in the late 1940s, before highways 16 and 42 were paved through Port Vincent to French Settlement, the trip was “only” three hours by car for the thirty-or-so mile trip from Baton Rouge. At present, the town of Frost is little more than a cross-roads with several stores and an elementary school. Highway 63, running north/south through Frost to Verdun, is built on the old railroad bed. The town was once the site of a saw mill, planing mill, and dry kiln as well as a stopping place for The Garyville & Northern Railroad. The lumber in the kiln was dried with steam. The concrete walls of the kiln are still standing today. There was a slanted unloader for the logs.
The name for the town came from one of the owners of the Frost-Johnson Lumber Company which had large holdings of land in Livingston parish in the early 1900s. At the height of development, Frost had two churches, two hotels, two beauty shops, two meat markets, three grocery stores, a dentist, a doctor and a large residential area.
At the northern end of the rail line was the town of Livingston. It was important for the owners of The Garyville & Northern Railroad, The Lyon Cypress Lumber Company, to have a connection to the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad (later, Baton Rouge, Hammond and Eastern Railroad and then Illinois Central Gulf) which ran from Baton Rouge eastward through Livingston to Hammond, LA. Livingston was really brought into existence after the cypress was depleted, around 1915, and pine forests attracted the lumber companies. Livingston is in the heart of pine country. The railroad facilities at Livingston included a station, coal chute and repair sheds. It is said that there was a round house and a raised, trestled engine maintenance area 30’ wide and 1/4 mile long also at Livingston.
And some excerpts from Here which mention Garyville.
The article is extremely interesting and pictures some very familiar places.
The Garyville Historic District
(a application to the National Register)
Mark, you can skip this and go to the rail maps below it.
Describe present and historic physical appearance.
The Garyville Historic District recognizes the importance of industrial lumbering in Louisiana
and the scores of mill towns which assisted in that industry's growth. The district is rooted in the St.
John the Baptist Parish village of Garyville, which was founded as a mill town by the Lyon Cypress
Lumber Company in 1903. Although Garyville has lost its mill, railroad depot, commissary, hotels,
boarding houses, community center, and some examples of its housing stock, it retains its small
commercial district, its rare livery stable, its Catholic rectory, several avenues of rare worker
housing, and the equally rare and original Lyon Company headquarters building. It is these
significant buildings upon which the historic district focuses. The structures, with one exception of
frame construction, date from the founding of Garyville by Lyon Lumber Company in 1903 to 1931,
the year the company ended production. Louisiana has very few even partially complete mill towns
remaining in its landscape, so Garyville's importance as an illustration of mill town life and worker
lifestyles is considerable. Thus, the district retains its National Register eligibility despite its losses.
The Garyville Commercial District
Garyville's commercial district stands along North and South Railroad Streets, the main
east-west corridor which is bisected by the tracks of the Illinois Central Railroad. Although the
business buildings are currently vacant or support uses different from their original purposes, the
company headquarters and two stores, a saloon, a barber shop, a pharmacy, a livery stable, and a
bank remain from the historic period. With the exception of the headquarters building and the bank,
all the commercial structures are humble unpretentious, and one-story in scale. Two of the buildings
have false front parapets, two display gable front facades, and one is a shotgun. The two-story brick
bank, with its banded cornice, paneled double doors, flat arches above facade windows and
segmental arches above the windows on each side, is the village's most stylish building from the
Lyon period.
Lyon Cypress Lumber Company Headquarters
A large, rectangular, two-story frame structure standing at the intersection of North Railroad
and Main Streets, the company headquarters building dominates the commercial district visually just
as it once dominated the entire community economically and socially. A historic photograph
illustrates the importance of the building to the community at large. It shows workers, many of whom
were dressed in their best clothing, lined up outside the structure, perhaps to apply for jobs or pick
up paychecks. Business activities were focused on the first floor, which consisted of a large open
room for use by the office staff and a private manager r S office. The second story apparently
provided overnight accommodations for visiting company officials and managers who worked long
hours to meet the needs of the thriving company.
Originally, the building's most notable features were its gallery and its encompassing tripped
roof crowned by a widow's walk. The gallery encircled the headquarters on all four sides at the
second floor level but stretched only across the facade on the ground floor. Hurricane Betsy
destroyed the second story encircling gallery during the mid-1960s. However, the lower porch, with
its nine identical square posts topped by molded capitals and curved brackets, remains in place.
The hurricane also damaged the building's roof and demolished the widow's walk. The replacement
roof, installed under emergency conditions, does not match the original. Very few company
headquarters buildings have survived in Louisiana. Thus, the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company
Building, despite its alterations, is a rare symbol of the lumber industry's past. Also, these alterations
are easily reversible, and the local preservation organization has received a grant to restore the
building to its original appearance.
Worker Housing
Originally, the Garyville grid designated that all housing for workers should be erected south
of the business district on Main, East, and West Streets. Old photos reveal that these houses
originally extended a great distance toward the river. Almost immediately the residential district
expanded into two additional areas. One was northwest of West Street (between the railroad and
Azalea), the other across the railroad adjacent to the northwest corner of the business district.
Today only portions of Garyville's residential areas survive.
Since styles and ideas concerning appropriate housing forms changed during the period in
which the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company built houses for its workers, five different house types are
illustrated within the historic district. They are as follows:
1) The Victorian, represented by one Eastlake and a handful of vaguely Queen Anne style
cottages. Victorian styles were slow to lose popularity in Louisiana and were built until near
the end of the first decade of the twentieth century. However, Victorian dwellings are
definitely in the minority in Garyville.
2) The one-story gable front cottage with folk bungalow plan (two rooms wide and two to
three rooms deep). The majority of houses built by the company probably followed this
mode. On West Street the homes feature shed roof front porches. These buildings were
probably erected in 1903. On the streets subsequently added to the grid, porches are
either recessed beneath the encompassing roof for half the length of the facade or are
absent.
3) The two-story rectangular dwelling devoid of stylistic details other than its gabled roof. A
one-story shed roof rear room and one-story shed roof porch added additional extra indoor
and outdoor living space to this plan. These houses, all located on Main Street, were
occupied by company managers and by loggers and line workers with large families. They
appear to have been built when the town was founded in 1903.
4) The one-story cottage with pyramid roof. Most of these houses also have recessed
porches which run for half the length of the facade. All were built during the second wave of
house construction necessitated by the company's growth.
5) The California bungalow. Different from the plainer houses with folk bungalow plans,
these dwellings displayed double gable roofs and tapered porch columns rising from
square bases. Popular from the late teens to the end of the Lyon era, these houses were
the most stylish of the twentieth century housing forms. They appear to have been erected
wherever empty lots remained within the crowded community.
Assessment of Integrity
Garyville has sustained serious losses of its mill, company commissary, community center,
railroad depot, hotels and boarding houses, and some examples of its manager/worker housing.
Because the mill was located north of the headquarters building, its loss has only a minimal effect
upon the integrity of the historic district. The hotels were apparently scattered throughout the
residential neighborhoods, so their loss is also not immediately apparent. The losses of the
commissary (which stood on South Railroad Street across from the headquarters), the depot (which
stood directly west of the company office), the boarding houses (which stood on Main Street across
from the commissary), and some of the two-story Main Street houses are more serious. However,
these losses are mitigated by the rarity, importance, and historic character of the headquarters
building, commercial district, livery stable, rectory and houses which survive.
The buildings from the historic period which remain standing in Garyville retain a surprisingly
accurate reflection of their past appearances. The most serious changes in these buildings have
occurred to the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company headquarters. As outlined above, it has lost its
second floor encircling gallery, its original encompassing tripped roof, and its widow's walk.
However, the building's first floor facade is original, and it still suggests its overall historic
appearance. Additionally, because it stands on its original site at the corner of North Railroad and
Main Streets, the headquarters still anchors the commercial district just as it did in 1903.
Furthermore, all of the architectural losses to this building are replaceable.
In the commercial district itself, only one building has been altered by an addition.
Fortunately, this addition consists only of a large awning added to the side of the shotgun barber
shop in order to shelter a patio-like space. In several cases, doors and windows of the commercial
buildings have been modified or replaced, but in each case, the historic character of the structure
remains visible. In particular, the two false front parapets remain. In addition, the Gary State Bank,
the community's most stylistically distinct structure, retains its original facade.
Changes to the housing stock have included such alterations as covering of original siding
with vinyl or shingles, replacement or alteration of windows and doors, replacement of wooden porch
columns with cast iron, screening of front porches, and the occasional addition of one-story rooms at
the sides of structures. Despite these changes, the historic integrity of the worker neighborhoods
remains intact. This is especially true on West and Main Streets, where the identical massing and
fenestration patterns combine with the general duplication of housing forms to convey these
neighborhoods' historic roles in providing shelter for the employees of the company town.
Intrusions
At 34%, Garyville's intrusion rate is within the accepted range for historic districts in
Louisiana. To achieve this calculation r buildings erected during the historic period (1903-1931) and
lacking significant alterations which destroy their historic integrity have been counted as contributing
elements. Structures exhibiting integrity-damaging alterations, mobile homes, and buildings erected
after 1931 have been counted as non-contributing elements or intrusions. Although some of the
intrusions are eye-catching, the same circumstances which mitigate the community's losses apply to
the consideration of the intrusions" visual impact. In short, the importance of industrial lumbering to
Louisiana and the scarcity of surviving mill towns make Garyville a rare and important resource for
the state. As such, its historic area is imminently eligible for listing as a National Register historic
district.
For the most part, the intrusions are scattered throughout the district. The most notable
concentration occurs around the intersection of Main and Azalea. A glance at the map might indicate
that this pocket of intrusions has severed the historic housing to the south from the rest of the
district. But this is definitely not the case. There is a strong visual connection, for example, between
the historic houses south of Azalea and the Lyon Company headquarters building to the north of the
railroad tracks. In short, while this clump of intrusions looks like a possibly serious break in historic
character on the map, one would not get this impression in person, as it is hoped the photographs
will demonstrate. This southern portion of the district represents the first wave of housing
construction, and fortunately the headquarters building still retains a strong visual relationship with it
despite the pocket of intrusions.
Breakdown by Period
1903-1910 48 buildings 51%
1911-1920 9 buildings 10%
1921-1931 5 buildings 5%
non-contributing 32 buildings 34%
TOTAL 94 buildings
Garyville Historic District Inventory
NOTE: All the residents of Garyville receive their mail at the local post office. As a result, very few
of the community's buildings display address numbers.
A decade date range is given below since the precise date of construction for each
building is not known.
1. North Railroad Street. Lyon Cypress Lumber Company headquarters building. 1903-1910.
Contributing element. Large two-story frame rectangular building with full length first floor
gallery. Second story gallery and roof-level widow's walk destroyed by Hurricane Betsy.
2. North Railroad Street. Saloon. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame gable
front commercial structure with full length three bay gallery beneath encompassing roof
Transom above door.
3. North Railroad Street. Barber Shop. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One room frame
shotgun with porch beneath encompassing roof. Altered by addition of large metal awning
sheltering side porch.
4. 09 St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front cottage with folk bungalow plan.
5. 013 St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front and wing cottage with decorative gable return and transom over door.
6. 017 St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
cottage with tin pyramid roof. Doors, windows, and porch columns altered.
7. St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame
gable front cottage with overhanging eaves. Porch cuts into corner of structure beneath
encompassing roof.
8. St. Francis Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
9. 104 St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front cottage with folk bungalow plan. Siding, porch columns, doors, and windows
altered.
10. 028 St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1921-1931. Contributing element. One-story
frame double gable California style bungalow with overhanging eaves. Porch screened.
11. St. Francis Street. c.1970. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick ranch style
house.
12. St. Francis Street. Manager's house. 1921-1931. Contributing element. Two-story frame
New Orleans raised cottage with folk bungalow plan and elements of California bungalow
styling such as tapered wooden columns rising from brick piers. Basement area enclosed.
13. 401 North Railroad Street. Pharmacy/Drug Store. 1903-1910. Contributing element.
One-story frame commercial structure with false front parapet, overhanging eaves, and
paneled double doors. Windows and two porch columns altered.
14. North Railroad Street. Worker's house. 1921-1931. Contributing element. One-story frame
double gable California style bungalow with tapered piers. Small side addition.
15. North Railroad Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
16. North Railroad Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
17. 09 North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1921-1931. Contributing element. One-story frame
California bungalow style structure with double gable roof, side-projecting porch, tapered
piers with molded capitals, and geometrical balustrade.
18. North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
cottage with pyramid roof. Porch columns, windows and one door altered.
19. North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front cottage with folk bungalow plan. Altered by glass paneled door and screened
porch.
20. 027 North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1921-1931. Contributing element. One-story
frame double gable California bungalow with overhanging eaves. Siding and door altered.
21. North Apple Street. Star Bakery. Non-contributing element. Two-story frame structure
incorporating part of the old bakery building. Enlarged and vinyl sided.
22. North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
structure with asphalt siding resembling brick and tin roof.
23. North Apple Street. c.1965. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick ranch style
house.
24. North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story frame
double gable bungalow with no other stylistic characteristics.
25. North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front and wing cottage. Siding and door altered.
26. 126 North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story
frame double gable bungalow with shed roof addition at side.
27. North Apple Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick ranch style
house.
28. 118 North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story
frame Queen Anne cottage with projecting bay and jigsaw ornament.
29. North Apple Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick ranch style
house.
30. North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front and wing with tin roof. Windows, door and siding altered.
31. 401 North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story
frame double gable bungalow with lattice work in gable peak.
32. 024 North Apple Street. c.1970. Non-contributing element. Modern one story brick ranch
style house.
33. 018 North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story
frame gable front cottage with folk bungalow plan, original siding and door.
34. North Apple Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front cottage with porch cut into corner beneath encompassing roof. Siding and door
altered.
35. North Apple Street. c.1970. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story frame ranch style
house.
36. North Railroad Street. Grocery Store. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front structure with full length porch beneath encompassing roof. Columns altered.
37. South Railroad Street. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame Queen Anne
style cottage with fishscale shingles, projecting bay, Eastlake trim with jigsaw brackets,
and original siding.
38. 10 South Railroad Street. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame cottage with
Eastlake columns and jigsaw brackets' one Italianate door, two French doors, and original
siding.
39. St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1911--1920. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front cottage with folk bungalow plan and porch cut into corner under encompassing
roof. Windows and siding changed.
40. St. Francis Street. 1903-1910. Non-contributing element. One-story frame Queen Anne
cottage with alterations which have destroyed historic integrity.
41. St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
shotgun with later side projecting addition.
42. St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story frame
double gable California bungalow with later side projecting addition. Porch screened.
Windows and siding altered.
43. 106 St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
cottage with porch cut into corner beneath encompassing pyramidal roof. Door altered.
44. St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
cottage with porch cut into corner beneath encompassing pyramidal roof. Porch screened.
Doors altered.
45. St. Francis Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
46. St. Francis Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick ranch style
house.
47. Azalea Street. Rectory for St. Hubert's Catholic Church. 1903-1910. Contributing element.
One-story frame Queen Anne style dwelling with two projecting bays, square corner tower,
multi-pane windows with colored glass, and Italianate doors.
48. St. Francis Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front and wing cottage with three bay porch. Original clapboards on facade; other
exterior walls altered by addition of shingle siding.
49. St. Francis Street. c.1955. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story frame ranch style
house.
50. South Railroad Street. Store. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
commercial building with false front parapet. Windows and doors altered.
51. South Railroad Street. Livery Stable. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
building.
52. South Railroad Street. Gary State Bank. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story brick
commercial building with banking facilities downstairs and offices above. Decorative
elements include a banded cornice, paneled double doors, flat arches above facade
windows, and segmental arches above side windows. The bank was the only brick building
erected during the historic period for this nomination.
53. South Railroad Street. c.1967. Non-contributing element. One-story frame grocery store.
54. Canal Street. c.1980. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
55. Canal Street. c.1970. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story metal temporary
classroom building.
56. Azalea Street. Garyville Grammar School. 1942. Non-contributing element. One-story
frame Classical Revival rectangular structure.
57. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan and shed roof porch.
58. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable
front double house with shed roof porch.
59. West Street. 1903-1910. Non-contributing element. One-story frame cottage with alterations
which have destroyed historic integrity.
60. 123 West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan and shed roof porch. Porch screened.
61. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan.
62. 135 West Street. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable front double
house with shed roof porch. Siding altered.
63. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan. Siding, columns, porch and gable decoration altered.
64. 206 West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan and central gabled porch. Siding altered.
65. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan, shed roof porch, and side addition. Porch screened.
66. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan and porch cut into corner beneath encompassing
roof. Porch screened and siding altered.
67. 218 West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan and porch cut into side beneath encompassing roof.
68. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan and shed roof porch. Siding altered.
69. West Street. c.1970. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story metal garage.
70. West Street. c.1970. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story concrete block fire hall.
71. 138 West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One-story frame
gable front cottage with folk bungalow plan and shed roof porch. Siding and windows
changed.
72. 117 West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame gable
front double house with shed roof porch. Columns replaced.
73. West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Non-contributing element. One story frame gable
front cottage with alterations which destroy historic integrity.
74. 116 West Street. Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame gable
front cottage with folk bungalow plan, shed roof porch, and side addition. Windows, doors
and siding changed.
75. West Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick ranch style house.
76. West Street. c.1903. Non-contributing element. One-story frame gable front cottage with
folk bungalow plan and alterations which have altered historic integrity.
77. Main Street. c.1955. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick post office and
library.
78. Main Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story brick ranch style house.
79. Main Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Badly altered bungalow (bricked over,
modern wrought iron columns.
80. Main Street. c.1980. Non-contributing element. Modern one-story frame ranch style house.
81. Main Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
82. Main Street. Worker/Manager house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story frame
rectangular dwelling devoid of stylistic details and topped by simple gabled roof. One-story
shed roof porch and one-story rear room are original.
83. Main Street. Worker/Manager house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story frame
rectangular dwelling topped by simple gabled roof. One-story shed roof porch and
one-story shed roof rear room are original. Alterations include side projecting addition and
enclosure of porch by screening and bungalow-like skirt.
84. Main Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
85. Main Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
86. Main Street. W. J. Stebbins home. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story frame
dwelling. The building has been slightly Victorianized and displays a two-story gallery.
87. 211 Main Street: Worker's house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. One story frame
cottage with pyramidal roof.
88. 207 Main Street. Worker/Manager house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story
frame rectangular dwelling topped by simple gabled roof. One story shed roof rear room is
original. Alterations include addition of Italianate door and two-story gallery with Eastlake
trim.
89. Main Street. c.1960. Non-contributing element. Mobile home.
90. 121 Main Street. Worker/Manager house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story
frame rectangular dwelling devoid of stylistic details and topped by simple gabled roof.
One-story shed roof porch and one-story rear room are original. Porch screened. Windows
and siding changed.
91. 119 Main Street. Worker/Manager house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story
frame rectangular dwelling devoid of stylistic detail and topped by simple gabled roof.
One-story shed roof rear room and one-story shed roof porch are original; side projecting
room is later addition.
92. 117 Main Street. Worker/Manager house 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story
frame rectangular dwelling devoid of stylistic details and topped by simple gabled roof.
One-story shed roof porch and one-story shed roof rear room are original; side projecting
room is later addition. Porch screened.
93. Main Street. Worker/Manager house. 1903-1910. Contributing element. Two-story frame
rectangular dwelling devoid of stylistic details and topped by simple gabled roof. One-story
shed roof rear room and one-story shed roof porch are original.
94. Main Street. Worker's house. 1911-1920. Contributing element. One-story frame double
gabled California bungalow with screened porch. Siding altered.
Significant dates 1903-1931
Architect/Builder unknown
Criterion A
State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of
significance noted above.
The Garyville Historic District is significant within the statewide context of the Louisiana
lumber industry and the related mill towns to which ii gave birth. During the industry's boom period
(approximately 1890-1930), scores of mill towns arose on the Louisiana landscape to house the
workers who harvested the state's extensive cypress and pine forests and converted them to
lumber. However, the nature of the industry was such that sites connected with its practice tended to
disappear after the timber in each area was exhausted. Garyville, founded in 1903 by the Lyon
Lumber Company, is one of only four or five mill towns to survive with any degree of integrity.
Despite the existence of extensive woodlands in Louisiana, large-scale lumbering did not
come to the state until the end of the nineteenth century. However, the area's early French
colonizers were quick to recognize the merits of cypress as a material capable of withstanding the
damage which other woods developed when exposed to the damp and humid climate of the Gulf
Coast. Consequently, they began small scale harvesting operations soon after their arrival. Reports
indicate that two cypress mills were in operation in 1716. By 1800 authorities reported thirty such
mills in production. Many of these concerns were run by planters who considered lumbering their
second business. All were small local operations dependent upon seasonal flood waters to float
felled cypress logs out of otherwise inaccessible swamps. The lumber produced by these early
manufacturing plants was used to create ship's masts; sugar packing boxes; storage tanks and
cisterns; and construction materials such as flooring, siding, shingles, and beams for framing. Some
of these materials were exported to other North American colonies and European countries.
While the Louisiana lumber industry developed slowly, that of the Northern states thrived. It
began in the northeast, then moved into the Great Lakes region when the failure of lumbermen to
plant replacements for the trees they harvested led to the depletion of New England's resources. At
the same time, mid-nineteenth century migration patterns created new population centers and
increased demands for lumber in the Midwestern states, thus reinforcing the desire of lumber
operators to move. By the 1880s, the pattern of increased demand and depletion of resources had
repeated itself in the Great Lakes states, and Northern lumbermen needed another new source of
raw material. This time they turned to the forests and swamplands of Louisiana.
The state's transformation from a modest to a large-scale industrial lumbering region was
fueled by several simultaneous developments: 1) the new demand for Southern lumber created by
the depletion of Northern supplies, 2) the availability in the state of cheap timber lands, 3) major
improvements in logging equipment which allowed the harvesting of difficult to reach trees, 4) the
desire of Louisiana businessmen to bring industry to the state, and 5) the development of an
adequate railroad network to transport the products- of the forest and the mill. The availability of
cheap water transportation via the Mississippi River also may have been a factor in luring Northern
lumbermen into Louisiana.
Although pine eventually became the state's leading lumber product, cypress proved a
strong competitor during the early years of industrial lumbering. Large stands of the tree ranged
from the Bayou Teche region on the west to the parishes skirting the western and northern shores of
Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain on the east. A line roughly paralleling the current U. S.
Highway 190 marked the extent of the cypress swamps on the north. Shingles were the first product
of the new mills which appeared in this area during the 1880s and 1890s, but lumbermen soon
expanded production to include a variety of dressed lumber products. By the end of the nineteenth
century Louisiana loggers were cutting between 250 and 500 million board feet of cypress each
year. By comparison, other hardwoods accounted for only 72 million board feet of Louisiana lumber
in 1899.
Although these figures are impressive, the real boom in cypress production occurred
between 1905 and 1915, when authorities reported 150 cypress mills operating within the state. The
peak occurred in 1913, when one billion ninety-seven million board feet were processed. The first
two decades of the twentieth century ranked as the high point of the hardwood industry as well.
Throughout this period Louisiana consistently ranked second in the nation in overall lumber
production (based upon statistics combining cypress and hardwood figures). For one year, 1914, the
state ranked first and produced 10.6 percent of the nation's lumber supply.
One of the factors behind the success of the Louisiana lumber industry was an easily
accessible and controlled work force, the existence of which allowed milling operations to continue
on a twenty-four hour basis. Worker accessibility and control was achieved through the institution of
the mill town. Scores of these communities sprang up as industrial lumbering expanded from one
area of Louisiana to another. Although many facilities were built in already established communities,
many were erected in isolated rural settings near the forests they intended to cut and process. This
circumstance meant that lumber companies had to provide housing and other necessities of life for
their workers, giving company officials an unprecedented opportunity to influence the lives of their
employees.
Designed to be self-sufficient no matter how isolated or remote its setting, the typical lumber
mill town provided every service necessary to insure the health and happiness of its workers.
Organized along functional lines, the town was divided into commercial, residential, and
company-related sections. As the community's reason for being, the mill and company offices
usually dominated the local landscape. The headquarters building served as a buffer separating the
factory and its accompanying man-made mill pond from the business, recreational, and residential
areas of the town. It housed the administrative functions of the company and served the workers as
a bank until the town grew large enough to support a separate bank building.
The commercial district supplied the residents' material and recreational needs. This section
focused upon the company store or commissary, a large well-stocked department store sited close
to the company’s headquarters building. Workers and their families purchased almost everything
they needed, from foodstuffs to trinkets, at this emporium. In the smaller towns, the barber,
company physician, and other professionals often shared space in the commissary building. A
railroad depot, post office, hotel, ice house, cafe, bakery, bar, poolroom, community recreation
center, and boarding houses for unmarried mill workers rounded out the facilities available in the
commercial district. Most of these businesses were either run directly by the lumber company or
leased to outsiders on a commission basis.
The residential section, its grid-like streets superimposed upon the rural landscape,
consisted of houses owned by the company and rented to the employees. The district was
subdivided into separate sections for white and black families. Within each ward stood churches and
schools donated by the company to minister to the spiritual and educational needs of the town's
men, women and children. Houses of white workers were fairly uniform in appearance, although
managers were often assigned slightly larger and better houses than the employees they
supervised. The typical dwelling was a small, one-story house with a pyramidal roof and a square
floor plan. Folk bungalow houses (two rooms wide and two or three rooms deep with gables facing
toward the front and rear) were also popular. The houses were widely spaced to allow for the
installation of gardens and outbuildings. Housing for black families varied and ranged from
pyramidal and folk bungalow dwellings to shotguns. These houses were closely spaced with small
yards. Electricity, water, and sewer service were provided by the company, although sometimes
there were restrictions prohibiting the use of these services during the hours of peak mill operation.
Some companies planted trees along residential streets to improve the appearance of worker
neighborhoods.
Through their mill towns, the lumber companies chose where employees and their families
lived, the recreational facilities available to them, the doctors who provided their health care, the
clerks who manned their stores, the teachers who educated their children, and the ministers who
served their churches. However, lumbermen and their families do not seem to have viewed this
situation as restrictive, for life in the mill towns was considered far superior to the lifestyles and
amenities available in many of the state's older but less developed communities.
Despite its prosperity and influence, the average mill town had a short life expectancy.
Lumbermen operating in Louisiana between 1880 and 1930 had ignored the lessons taught by the
failure of their New England and Great Lakes colleagues to practice conservation and reforestation
measures. As a result, they eventually depleted their major resource, the trees which had lured them
here. Cypress stands suffered particularly, for the cypress tree is practically a nonrenewable
resource which takes centuries to regenerate. When timber supplies ran out, companies simply
moved their operations to fresh resources, dismantling or abandoning the mills and towns they had
created only a few years before. After abandonment, the natural landscape moved quickly to
reassert itself. In a short time almost all evidence of the former towns and factory buildings had
decayed or disappeared beneath a tangle of underbrush.
Garyville's rise replicated that of most other Louisiana lumber mill towns. In 1903, the Lyon
Lumber Company of Illinois expanded into St. John the Baptist Parish and reorganized as the Lyon
Cypress Lumber Company. Their initial capitalization was two million dollars. Company officials
purchased many acres of cypress swamplands in the vicinity of the old Glencoe sugar plantation,
approximately 40 miles upriver from New Orleans. They also bought the plantation proper, where
they erected a large lumber mill and company town. Following the custom of the day, officials
named the new community after one of their directors, John W. Gary.
Utilizing state of the art machinery, Lyon built what it claimed to be the largest and most
modern cypress mill in the world. Historic photographs show that the complex contained a large
man-made mill pond which tied together a variety of buildings designed to process and store the
lumber. Instead of using the pullboat technology employed by most companies operating in cypress
areas, Lyon relied entirely on rail transportation to move workers and materials from forest to mill
and built its own railroad, the Garyville Northern, to assist in the task. The log cutting department
employed four specialized loading devices for lifting long logs into the company’s railroad cars,
twelve rod locomotives for normal log transport, and two Shay engines for pulling heavily loaded
cars out of tight or muddy places. The company's commitment to rail technology was also reflected
within the mill itself, where its overhead tram-like transport system was considered the factory's
most memorable feature. The mill also boasted large steam heated kilns for drying lumber. These
were powered by the company's own large turbine generator, which produced electricity for the
town's use.
The town itself was superimposed upon a five-street grid and divided into activity zones. A
buffer-like commercial district shielded the noisy northside mill from the quieter south-side
residential neighborhoods stretching toward the Mississippi River. North and South Railroad Streets,
major thoroughfares separated by the city’s twin railroad tracks, served as the local business district
and formed the east-west axis of the grid. Here the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company built its large
two-story headquarters building and a variety of other structures to serve the citizenry. These
included a railroad depot; a Community Club which housed a library, poolroom, dance hall, and
auditorium; and a huge company commissary (known as The Big Store) which contained general
merchandise and drug stores as well as a post office. A bank opened in 1910 and a movie theatre
and bakery in 1911. The community also had an ice house, several saloons, and at least three
hotels. Some of these businesses eventually spilled over into residential areas.
Main Street served as the central north-south axis of the town and tied the commercial
establishments and boarding houses for unmarried workers at its head to the two-story residences
along its spine. Although tradition suggests that only company executives would have lived in these
relatively large houses, the company built far more of these structures than it had managers to
occupy them. Loggers and mill workers who could not be housed on Main Street lived in smaller
dwellings on East and West Streets. These roadways paralleled Main and formed the last links in
the town's geometric grid. Like other company towns of the era, Garyville was segregated.
Originally, its white families lived on West and Main Streets while its black families lived on East.
However, a need for additional dwelling space almost immediately required the company to create
new residential streets outside the original grid. All of the houses were built and owned by Lyon and
rented to its employees. The company also provided churches and schools within the residential
neighborhoods.
As the size and facilities of Garyville suggest, the Lyon Cypress Lumber Company
prospered for over twenty-five years. Although early production figures are rare and contradictory,
available sources suggest that the company produced between 70,000 and 100,000 board feet of
cypress lumber each day. Parish business authorities soon ranked Lyon as St. John's second
largest industry, a rank it held until production eventually ceased. By 1915 loggers had so diminished
the supply of cypress that the company decided to convert to pine production. It changed its name to
the Lyon Lumber Company, remodeled the mill, purchased extensive pine stands in Livingston and
St. Helena parishes, founded the city of Livingston, and extended the Garyville Northern Railroad
northward to serve the new community and the surrounding logging areas. At this time the railroad
added a passenger and a freight car to its rolling stock and began carrying the United States mail.
The remodeled factory was the second largest pine mill in the state and apparently claimed to be the
second largest in the world. It produced approximately 225,000 feet of lumber per day and usually
employed an average of 900 persons. During the 1921-22 reporting cycle, it increased employment
to 1200. Available payroll figures are also contradictory, but the company may have averaged a
$1,062,000 payroll yearly. A total of 87,000 carloads of lumber left Garyville for outside markets
between 1903 and 1931.
The beginning of the end for the Garyville sawmill came between 1926 and 1928, when two
huge fires destroyed many of the company's storage sheds and millions of feet of dressed lumber.
Evidence is contradictory concerning the possibility of damage to the planing mill, but if damage did
occur it was repaired and production continued. However, the company's timber stands were near
exhaustion. After cutting one last cypress tree, at 1,283 years of age one of the oldest in the state,
the Lyon Lumber Company ended production in the summer of 1931.
In 1931 or 1932, W. J. Stebbins, former manager of Lyon's Garyville facility, purchased the
remaining equipment and company houses. Stebbins operated a lumber and salvage business on a
greatly reduced scale. By 1945 a new sawmill, the DeHass Dimitry Company, was operating in
Garyville. Beginning in the 1940s the old Lyon Lumber Company houses were placed on the market.
The year 1931 definitely represents the end of an era in Garyville and hence is a natural
place to end the period of significance for the district. Although the lumber industry did not end
abruptly with the demise of the Lyon Lumber Company, and in fact continued for many years, it was
definitely a shadow of its former self. The "golden age" of the lumber industry in Garyville is clearly
the 1903-1931 period of the Lyon Lumber Company. Also, documentation for Garyville's post-Lyon
lumber history is very scarce, which is yet another reason for not extending the period of significance
any further. Finally, any date other than 1931 would be arbitrary. The lumber industry in Garyville
continued, albeit on a modest scale, for almost another thirty years, and there is really no date within
this period that would be a natural or obvious benchmark for illustrating the significance.
Garyville’s statewide National Register significance lies in the fact that so few of Louisiana's
lumber mill towns have survived even partially intact. Because of the generally practiced policy of
companies to "cut and run," most communities were either dismantled and moved or abandoned
and overrun by vegetation. Most of those that survived the decline of the lumber industry
redeveloped, losing most if not all of their original character. As a result, there are only four or five
sawmill towns which survive with any degree of integrity.
Despite the loss of several important buildings, the community retains its company
headquarters office (now a rare building type in Louisiana), its bank, its livery stable (also a rare
type), several other commercial buildings, and its grid-like plan. It also retains a surprising number of
workers' houses. These houses are especially noteworthy, for most still closely resemble the houses
the workers knew. Additionally, the tracks which still dissect the community's main east/west
thoroughfare graphically illustrate the importance of the railroad in mill town life. In summary, the
rarity, importance, and historic quality of the Garyville Historic District all serve to reinforce its
National Register eligibility.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bank of St. John. St. John the Baptist Parish, On the Corridor of History. Baton Rouge: Norman A.
Ferachi & Associates, Inc., 1974.
Edward Livingston Historical Association. History of Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Livingston, La.:
n.p., 1986.
Eyraud, Jean M., and Millet, Donald J. A History of St. John the Baptist Parish with Biographical
Sketches. Marrero, La.: Hope Haven Press, 1939.
Garyville Improvement Association. "History of Lyon Lumber Company." Typescript. (Copy in
Garyville National Register file, Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation.)
Mancil, Ervin. "A Historical Geography of Industrial Cypress Lumbering in Louisiana." 2 vols. Ph.D.
dissertation, Louisiana State University, 1972.
. "Some Historical and Geographical Notes on the Cypress Lumbering Industry in
Louisiana." Louisiana Studies 8 (Spring 1969): 14-25.
Norgress, Rachael Edna. "The History of the Cypress Lumber Industry in Louisiana," Louisiana
Historical Quarterly 30 (1947): 979-1059.
Prophit, Willie. "The Swamp's Silent Sentinel--A History of Louisiana Cypress Logging." Forests &
People 33 (1982): 6-8, 32, 35.
St. Pierre, Darryl. "History of Garyville." n.p., n.d. (Copy in Garyville National Register file, Louisiana
Division of Historic Preservation.)
Stokes, George A. "Lumbering in Southwest Louisiana: A Study of the Industry as a
Culturo-Geographic Factor," Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State University, 1954.
Wilby, Routh Trowbridge. "The Cypress Story." Dixie Magazine, May 1, 1977.
I hope you are planning a trip to Garyville.
Here come the maps:
They reel out South to North which is confusing when scrolling down (n2s) the page.
I have learned a lesson with this presentation.
This was a tough find since Garyville was illusive, stuck at the edge of a 1935 map.
Garyville is off US 61 west of New Orleans. It is on The River also. This 1935 mile uncovers another mystery, The Mississippi Sugar Belt RR. I can't get into that yet. Wait.
Garyville and the Yard can be seen to the left. The Illinois Central and Louisiana & Arkansas RRs can also
be seen as can the connecting rails at Reserve Station. Try clicking on this map for the original large version.
At the river going north.
At the river going north.
Below is a continuation (overlap) of the rails above to show you the interesting "stuff" along the shore headed east toward New Orleans.
OK, I'm ready to continue north into the backwater swamp above Garyville.
I'll switch to the 1945 Lutcher Map. At this point in history the GN rails are called "abandoned". The cypress had evidently played out. You can see it to the right. Of note: you can see that the Illinois Central rails are called "Yazoo and Mississippi Valley".
took another hard westerly move, crossed the Blind River and then turned back north crossing Bayou Chene Blanc.
Next is the 1943 Springfield Map. I'm cutting it up to show more detail.
The highway signed here as 160 is present day La.22, a very familiar roadway and an adventure itself.
I wish I'd been aware of the railroad while exploring all of the landings in that area.
Whitehall was mentioned earlier. The railroad, listed as "abandoned", crosses the Amite River. The Amite is a treacherous river in the Spring. It would be interesting to have seen how the railroad confronted her.
Moving north from the Amite. Hwy.926 is now La.440 if my memory is correct. It is the next road
above La.22. Verdun was the next "stop". High ground has been reached.
From Verdun it was a straight shot to Frost.
Continuing North to Livingston. I've read that the rails went to Montpelier. I don't think that is right.
The went a little above Livingston / Doyle.
The 1950 Doyle Map.
Now it gets speculative. I do believe the GN proceeded above Livingston./ Doyle.
The railroad is still seen with what I suggest were "dummy lines" veering off from the main.
I don't think the railroad proceeded north to Montpelier which is too far to the northeast.
But it may have gone farther north crossing the West Hog,
but not to Montpelier.
Wasn't that fun!!