When thinking of Louisiana, many adjectives come to mind, but most travelers get excited about the states’ food and culture. In Northern Louisiana, a group comprised of 29 parishes from Monroe to Alexandria, there are many unknown town names in between, but there’s definitely diversity in the area that the traveler can’t ignore.
Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish is a good place to learn about the history of the area from agricultural to the Civil War. The Byerley House, a Victorian house from the 1900’s that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, sits near the lake and the area where General Grant made attempts to divert the Mississippi River, at what is called Grant’s Canal. At the welcome center, stop in and ask about the ghosts in the area; some of the old timers are more than happy to share.
Not to leave West Carroll Parish out either, for the history and movie buffs there’s an amazing little theatre called the Fiske Theatre located in Oak Grove, it is historic and like stepping back in time to circa 1928, but the movies are as up-to-date as any other cinema around the country.
If you’re a hot pepper lover than you’ll fall in love with Panola Pepper Company also in Lake Providence and still family owned. Keeping the locals employed is high on their agenda, and the company started three generations ago, so they know everyone in town. They produce real Louisiana hot sauce, and right now, there’s 5,000-acres on the plantation where they produce over 100 unique gourmet specialties.
By the way, if you get hungry in Lake Providence, there’s one place you’ve got to go; The Dockside Restaurant, which sits on the lake, and the location used to be a gambling establishment, where rumor has it that the slot machines, which were thrown in the lake, still have money inside. On the menu, the crawfish bread is wonderful, but the entire menu screams Louisiana.
Agriculture is the main product in this area so it’s no surprise that cotton is an oft talked of subject. The Louisiana State Cotton Museum in Lake Providence is a great place to spend the day; dedicated residents have painstakingly taken the time to reproduce an earlier era. It’s a seven-acre museum with a 100-year-old farmhouse, a sharecropper’s cabin, replica gin building, and a plantation church. You can also find out how many pairs of blue jeans can be made from a bale of cotton too.
Asking for ghosts as I went along, there are a few for sure, after all, it is Louisiana. One unique find however was the little town of Transylvania, and I don’t mean in Romania. However, there’s nothing in Transylvania except a big water tower displaying a bat, a post office, and a general store where they sell Dracula and bat-related items. Established in the 1800s, these days the population is 743.
After you’ve discovered one parish, you’ll want to keep going, so head out to Madison Parish where the Crescent Plantation’s ghost story might indeed wow you, as it is one of the few antebellum homes to survive the Civil War. Rumors abound that the woman of the house was sick when Union soldiers arrived. Did she die, and does she still haunt the halls at night, only you can decide?
Winter Quarters State Historic Site is another “ghostly” destination, although recently closed due to budget cuts, you can visit with an appointment and it’s worth it. The house was built beginning in the 1800s, and rumor is that the attic is home to strange apparitions on a regular basis. In fact, one caretaker refuses to go upstairs at all.
The town of Vidalia is a great little find calling itself “City On The Move.” Sitting on the Mississippi River, just across from Natchez, MS, the riverfront is where the action is with a walking trail, marina, Vidalia Conference and Convention Center, and a number of hotels. The town was established in 1798 by a Spanish Commander, and during the 1800s, it was cotton that kept things going. In 1827, Vidalia was made famous when the Bowie knife became world renowned after being used by Alamo hero Jim Bowie, while fighting an area native.
The Delta Music Museum in nearby Ferriday is a great find, and if you’re a Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley, and Jimmy Swaggart fan (did you know they were all related), then this is the stop for you. There are other exhibits as well featuring Percy Sledge, Fats Domino, and Irma Thomas.
Last parish stop, Avoyelles, a French area settled originally by descendents of immigrants who came from France. These days considered a “sportsman’s paradise.” A must see is in Moreauville where the Adam Ponthieu Grocery Store, and Big Bend Post Office will take you back to the early 1900s, where you will reminisce in the store before learning about the local railroad, an ever important method of transportation during those earlier times.
One more ghost story is Loyd Hall Plantation in Cheneyville, a part of the Alexandria/Pineville area, circa 1820, this place is haunted and then some. An old Antebellum mansion, folks can stay in the house overnight or in the outside cabins, and the rumor here is that the ghost makes noises all night on the third floor of the house, and no, the caretaker won’t come back and move you to another room. He warns you beforehand. Also listed on the National Historic Register, Loyd Hall is a working plantation made up of 640 acres surrounded by sugar cane, cotton fields, and pasture land.
Whatever your cultural whims, Northern Louisiana offers it all. And the food, if you can break away from the history is well worth the stop — just go easy on the hot sauce, it’s Cajun-style after all.