Hometown America -- St. Francisville, Louisiana

[Deleted]

I think they just tried to take your picture right when the Howdy Doody show was starting.

[lola]

This is great, Bixa. (I think it's your grandfather's side that resembles my grandmother's side. She was a Cureton.)

I'd love to know how to do the street view, and feature my main home town.

[gertie]

Bixa, how lovely! What a wonderful tribute to your home.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks Lola and Gertie. Doing this was an interesting walk into the past, with the loving sentimental part, the cynical knowledge of other parts, and my own feelings coming to the fore in unexpected ways.

Lola, I think that very soon AnyPort will be presenting ways to use more of the online tools available to everyone. I have the most tenuous handle on Street View and am looking forward to guidance.

[Kimby]

Apr 15, 2010 16:21:14 GMT bixaorellana said:

If there's any interest, I'll be happy to create a thread on how to capture images from google street view.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to see threads about member's home towns across the globe?!

I would love to know how to do this. Have you made such a thread, bixa?

I can't even figure out how to GET a street view - is it because there isn't always a street view available? (I got my parents' house, but my own won't show...)

[bixaorellana]

Kimby, no I haven't but thanks for reminding me. As you know, scenery is being shifted backstage for long-promised innovations. I'm making some basics threads right now, and that would be a good addition.

There is not always a street view, particularly in rural areas. You just do the best you can with the satellite view, but it's not the same.

I'm not all that good with street view, it seems so swoooopy to me. However, you get strange surprises with it. The first time I really used it was right after my mother sold the family house shown in this thread. The house is on a corner, and even though I put in the address correctly, I was taken around the corner & up the driveway -- the same way I'd arrived at the house zillions of times in real life. I sobbed!

[bixaorellana]

Tomorrow is .......

The 200th anniversary of the Republic of West Florida

from Wikipedia:
The area later designated West Florida was originally claimed by Spain as part of La Florida, which included most of the southeastern United States.
In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, the British agreed to a boundary between the United States and West Florida at 31° north latitude between the Mississippi and Apalachicola Rivers. Britain also ceded both Florida provinces back to Spain...
In the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1800, Spain returned France's Louisiana colony; however, the boundaries were not specified. After France sold the Louisiana Purchase to the United States in 1803, another boundary dispute erupted. The United States claimed the territory from the Perdido River to the Mississippi River, which had been a part of the old province of Louisiana when the French had ceded it in 1763. The Spanish insisted that they had administered that portion as the province of West Florida and that it was not part of the territory returned to France in 1800.
The United States and Spain held long, inconclusive negotiations on the status of West Florida. In the meantime, American settlers established a foothold in the area and resisted Spanish control. British settlers, who had remained, also resented Spanish rule, leading to a rebellion in 1810 and the establishment for exactly 90 days of the Republic of West Florida.

On September 23, 1810, after meetings beginning in June, rebels overcame the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge and unfurled the flag of the new republic: a single white star on a blue field.

full article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Florida                       Go here for a video on the subject.

[Deleted]

I knew most of that growing up, but there were very few traces of any remaining Spanish influence along the Mississippi Gulf Coast when I was growing up. Just about all of the place names are English, French or Native American.

[bixaorellana]

Just found a video from a New Orleans television station, today's news show.

It shows the bottom part of St. Francisville, where it runs into what used to be the town of Bayou Sara. It's all flooded, although the town is high & dry, which is why a town was founded there. Please see the previous page, Reply #1, for views of Bayou Sara.

The video also has great shots of the town proper & you can see my-cousin-the-mayor speaking.
www.wwltv.com/video?id=121744484&sec=554607

And, *sob*, the ferry is no more. (see OP & Reply #11). The new bridge was opened this past week. It was opened early because the high water prevented the use of the ferry.
biketouringnews.com/fundamental-stuff/st-francisville-ferry/

This video is from Dec. 2010 & states that projected inauguration of the bridge was to be late summer, 2011.

[lola]

Your cousin, hometown, the accents: adorable. Why do they hire those Yankee newsreaders?

I didn't quite catch what it was they wanted opened; the bridge?

[bixaorellana]

Thanks, Lola!

What they're referring to is the Morganza Spillway, calling it "the Morganza". It's scheduled to be opened today (Saturday). It's right across the river from St. Francisville.
www.wwltv.com/news/All-eyes-turn-to-Morganza-Spillway-121672234.html


No Yankees in that #38 newscast! The northernmost one of them would have to be Dennis Woltering, who is from (drumroll) St. Louis. The other anchor, Angela Hill is originally from Texas, but has been on tv in New Orleans since the mid-70s. The narrator, Doug Mouton, is from New Orleans East.

Actually, my-cousin-the-mayor is not from St. Francisville originally. He's from Fort Adams, Mississippi, but married a St. Francisville girl almost 50 years ago. His dad is in the photo in Reply #25, the first boy on the left.

[lola]

Well, I thought Woltering's accent sounded funny. Love your cousin's voice.

[bixaorellana]

Yeah, I agree that it's a charmer!

You can hear him again here, along with other locals reassuring people that the town is not flooded.
www.nbc33tv.com/news/mississippi-rising/flood-rumors-hurting-st-francisville-economy

It's not surprising that people would think that. I actually had someone from New Orleans once tell me "Louisiana doesn't have hills."
Driving north from Baton Rouge, the land is rolling and St. Francisville is nestled in the Tunica Hills.

However, from the news footage shown in #38 and the fact that parts of Hwy 61 are closed near Vicksburg, you can see why people could think that high & dry St. F might be flooded.

[mich64]

How very interesting and well constructed this essay is Bixa, I am so glad you posted the link. Well done my friend.
Cheers,
Mich

[bixaorellana]

You are so kind and encouraging, Mich ~~ thanks!

This thread may be getting a little self-indulgent. That's because I'm looking up stuff on the internet about the flooding for my mother and finding all kinds of little nuggets. Also, all of our threads on anyport can be found with internet searches, meaning we help add to www knowledge!

I talked to my mother on Sunday, & she said the last time she saw the water that high (as shown in the video in #38, plus pictures I've sent her) was in 1937. Here are photos of Bayou Sara in 1937. Note the clothes on the line in the second picture! It seems to me that billiard hall was still standing when I was a teenager, & maybe even later. If anyone from the area knows, please post it here. (source of photos: louisianadigitallibrary.org/)

                                                                 
                                                                                                             

Re: self-indulgence, adding to knowledge, etc. ~~ Just for the record, I'm posting this extensive history of Bayou Sara here: www.crt.state.la.us/Assets/OCD/archaeology/discoverarchaeology/virtual-books/PDFs/Bayou_Sara_Booklet.pdf

[bixaorellana]

Another nugget I just came across online that I think belongs in this thread -- the story of the passion play (3 1/2 hours!) put on at Angola prison.

Here's the video:
video.nytimes.com/video/2012/05/05/us/100000001529143/prison-passion-play.html

& the story, with slide show. (even if you're not interested in the theme, the photos by Michael Stravato are marvelous)
www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/us/in-prison-play-with-trial-at-its-heart-resonates.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

[spanishmoss]

What a fascinating thread. I too love old photos, especially when they are supplemented with such interesting content, so creatively put together.

I am one of those rootless people who grew up in several different spots, from what some may term the ridiculous (Levittown, Long Island, NY) to the sublime (rural Salinas, California) but to me, every place has its fascinations.
I have fond memories of Levittown and am still in contact with friends there.

My current town, Fernandina Beach, FL, on Amelia Island, was first inhabited 4,000 years ago by the Timucuan Indians. French explorers arrived in May 1562, and we have been celebrating the 400th anniversary by enjoying all things French: Tall ships arriving at the harbor, French wine-tasting, Pétanque, and this fall French food. Try to imagine all this in Southern-fried North Florida. It's been fun.

[nycgirl]

Great thread, Bixa! Love the photos of you and your family.

Interesting article about the passion play, too.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks so much, SpanishMoss & NYCGirl. Obviously this thread is dear to my heart in a special way.

Don't you feel privileged to have grown up all over, SM? I'd say I do. As you say, every place has its fascinations.

Really interesting to hear about the 400th anniversary of French footfall in Florida. I recently read a book about all the explorers & settlers who came before the unfairly better-known Pilgrims. Thread soon, yes?

[bixaorellana]

Three+ years after the OP in this thread, I was able to return to my hometown and take my own pictures. That's been made into a separate thread here: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=usa&action=display&thread=6146