What do you remember about old Lafayette?

[jaguar]

I remember the Twin Drive In theater where The Grand is now. My family would go there in the station wagon with pillows and blankets and watch the shows. I think "Oliver" was the last movie we saw there.

Does anyone remember Polycarp Pele Pecot No. 2 and Officer Friendly? They were on Channel 3 in the mornings. We would watch them before Captain Kangaroo. Buckskin Bill was out of Baton Rouge.

Remember when City Hall was Sears & Roebuck?

In high school my brothers and I worked at a BBQ restaurant called "In a Pig's Eye." You may know it now as iMonelli.

LaFonda was once part of a strip shopping center. The portion closest to Johnston St. was a Phil-A-Sak and there was a dry cleaners too I think. They expanded into those areas in the 70s I think.

How about Stop & Shop BBQ? I loved their po boys.

I remember when Woodvale Elementary was built. I was in the second grade and my brother was in the first when it opened, and we attended.

I would love to hear what the rest of you remember.

[TBEAR]

How about ambassador, kaliste, and johnston south of the mall, all being two lane roads. A four way stop at ambassador and kaliste when ambassador was called new flanders.

Gibsons on johnston

Stop and shop bbq poboys were good

the old dairy queen, where it is right now by ull, forgot what its called now, but a driveinn

when UL was called USL

When the Acadiana Mall was field

Seemed the weather wasnt as hot and sticky either, but it could just be me

When there were two tv or maybe three tv channels, if you were lucky to catch them on the antenna, and all of them went off the air after the news except for friday and saturday nights. I use to wait for the national anthem if I got to stay up late.

The Waltons

Polycarp

No bumper to bumper traffic!!!!

No beepers or cell phones

When a toyota was $2000.00 brand new, and a chevy truck was $4000.00, loaded.

If you go back even farther my grandmother, deceased now, had told me about Jefferson st when it was a gravel rd and they used to take a horse to go downtown, it took all day for the round trip from milton.

She told me about the big old oak tree by one of the old courthouses downtown where they used to hang people sentenced to death.

There was also a vermilion river ferry that would pick up people and bring them to Chenier Au Tigre in Vermilion Parish for a day on the beach, got some cool old black and white pictures my grandmother and her friends out there


These were just things that came into quick memory

[Cajunguy]

Anyone remember when the intersection of Johnston St. and South College was about where the Lafayette city limits was?

There was a Burger Chef burger place (was owned and run by the Michot family) right in the middle of where North College is now. Coming off of So. College at Johnston St. was a "T" intersection. If you went straight off of So. College, you ended up in Burger Chef's (later called Mr. Cook's) parking lot.

My grandparents lived in Abbeville, and Sunday afternoons meant a regular trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa. That was the longest ride from Lafayette to Abbeville because after you passed that intersection, it was almost all cow pastures (not much else) to Maurice, and on to Abbeville. (And nowhere near the number of red lights to have to stop for.) AND it was two-lane all the way to Abbeville.

Nope, there was no Acadiana Mall in those days. Not yet anyway.

Ambassador Caffery Parkway was known as New Flanders Road, and it was a narrow two lane road.

When the LAGCOE oil show was held at Blackham Colesium, they used to display airplanes at the show. They would fly in and land on New Flanders Rd. and taxi all the way up Johnston St. to Blackham, then after the show ended, would taxi back to Flanders to take off and return to the airport.

Poor Boy's Riverside Inn was on Pinhook Road (all two-lane at the time) near the Pinhook bridge (don't remember for sure which side of the bridge after all these years, but I think it was where the Hilton is now), and there was a drive-in burger place called "The Skunk" on the opposite side of the bridge. It was a popular hang-out for the high school age crowd.

Dave's Top Hat was another hang-out on Jefferson St. about a block off of Pinhook Rd. Great burgers, too.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the A&W root beer stand at the intersection of Jefferson St. and Moss St. Man, that was the BEST root beer ever. And some good burgers too.

Phewie, Jaguar, you reopened memory lane with this thread. Great thread.

Come on, folks, I know there are some other "old timers" out there. Share your memories.

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[jaguar]

TBear it would be great if you could post those pictures. I'd love to see them.

I remember Gibsons ... what about Brown's Thrift City where La Promenade (now an empty lot) used to be. I think I bought a radio on lay away there when I was 9 or 10.

Samir's was a convenience store and next to it was a Tastee Freeze.

Someone reminded me recently that there was an A&W Root Beer Drive In on the southside across from the old Wilson's/Service Merchandise now Courtesy Motors is.

Woolco where is Academy is now. When the Plaza with a brand new movie theater. They used to show the Rocky Horror Picture Show there as the midnight movie almost every Friday night. It was crazy ...

The first Veron's Meats I remember was near Cal's Western Store. Then they opened the one at the end of Rena before they built that new store. There was also one for years where Q-Zar used to be. One of my brothers worked there in high school. They had the best meat in town. Still do from what I can tell.

I'd forgotten about Dave's Top Hat! How about Hopper's where Dominos is at University and Johnston.

I remember that old Burger Chef and there was one at Camellia and Johnston for years. I would ride my bike there from home (after going to Woolco) and buy a Super Chef for 50 cents!

[Taureau]

I remember when going to Lafayette and when you
told someone you went by the 4 corners; Man, you
had been somewhere. The 4 corners was a really
busy area with service stations, (real ones with attendants)
Jacobs Restaurant and Toby's Oak Grove Restaurant and
lets not forget Pat's Theatre next door. I can not
believe people actually cut down that large oak tree to
have additional parking for the parts house (I still refuse
to go there). The people involved should have been
horsewhipped. Another subject please.
Let's not forget Landry's Palladium Club on Hwy. 90,
Mud Ave. or Scott Hwy. in the curve just past Big Jim's
Mobile Home Sales. What about the Midway Club halfway
between Lafayette and Breaux Bridge. Going a little farther
back; what about the Old O.S.T. Club in Rayne or the
Hollywood Club. Come to think of it, my wife used to
work at the Old Brown's Thrift City (first one) on Johnston
St. in the strip mall or is it maul. What about Ed's Drive In
on the West side of Crowley on Hwy. 90. Remember the
River Club In Mermentau. I remember going there with
my Uniform (military) before going to VietNam and other
places I don't care to revisit. That was when "Whiter
shade of Pale", could be heard playing on your old am car
radio.
The song, "Today I started Loving You Again" By Merle
Haggard had just came out and so did "Ticket For an Air Plane"
by the Box Tops. What year was it? Well enough for now;
gotta leave room for others. I am "honte" now. Arrete
Pas La Musique.

[Cajunguy]

Taureau, can't believe you left out Snack's Drive-in at four corners. It was right next to the old Philip's 66 (or was it a Texaco) station where the Popeye's is now on University Ave.

One of the few all night eating places in town in the fifties and sixties.

You should be "honte" for forgetting that.

Oh, and what about the old "Half Shell" restaurant on Vermillion St. just off of St. John across from Cathedral-Carmel School. Ate many a hot dog there when I was at the old Cathedral High School (all boys school, and all the girls went to the old Mount Carmel School where the First Baptist Christian School is now. We had the Christian Brothers as our teachers, and the girls had Nuns at Mt. Carmel.

Man were some of those Brothers MEAN, or what!?!?!?

Next?


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[TBEAR]

Jaguar, I'll try to find the pics, and speaking of the Burger Chef, I always thought they had the best fast food burger and went downhill when the became the mister cook.

BTW, good topic Jaguar, Its cool thinking back when life was simpler. Like my grandmother always told me you are put on this earth for a certain amount of time no matter what you do you cant change it and all you have in the end is your memories.

[Taureau]

I also remember coming into town from the West on
Hwy. 90 and seeing the sign reading Lafayette city limits
and thinking, why is it spelt that way? I thought it should
have been Laugh a yet. What was the name of one of
the all night eating spots near the Lafayette city limit's sign?
At one time it was called the Frog but It was originally named
something else. Now, I think it is some type of flea market....
After my last post, I thought about the oak tree that was
cut down to allow for additional parking at the parts house
near the 4 corners. It made me some angry that I should
of gotten a can of spray paint and painted my frustrations
out on the New Court House, Consolidated Government
building or even the Cajun Dome. I don't think it is a crime,
as long as you state what your frustrations are about. Mais,
Pense Donc; do you think the church "leaders or Bishop"
would come to my aid and say my actions are well founded?
You know it may take someone to break the law to change
the law; right? Quel Courage!
Here I go again; I forgot we were on the Old Lafayette thing.
My bag. Makes me honte again. d**n.

[TBEAR]

Ok I found one of them with her in a tree in Chenier Au Tigre, just for kicks I also uploaded some other old photos and I uploaded them after colorizing the old black and white ones. scroll down the page to see the rest. heres the webshot site:

community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=552663908&ran=18465

I also did a new signup at webshots for the talkboard so anyone can log in and add their own ablum then upload pictures. It should work for everyone just follow the directions and make sure to make a new album for each of you that wants to add pictures

the password we will all share is as follows:

login: lafayettetalk
pass: photos

www.webshots.com

if you hit the main page just click on the "my stuff" folder thats where the albums are stored. It should work with everyone sharing the password but dont know until we try.

[abbd]

Wasn't born or raised here but spent quite a bit of time here in the mid sixties...so I remmeber ..The Blue Note, The Library(no books in that place), Roof Garden, Judge Roy Bean's,The swinging Machine?? if I recall...was The Underpass in Lafayette or maybe it was someplace else, did they even serve food in Lafayette in the 60's?..lol some of my memories are lost in the haze and daze of alcohol! 50 cent pitchers of draft! now that was cool..... However I do like reading y'alls rememberences.

[TBEAR]

I'm with you there abbd those 50 cent pitchers went a long way back then, whew

[jaguar]

TBear, thanks for those pictures. I love the ones of the store. Where was it located? Tell me everything!

A sign in the store reminded me of the Frey plant. OMG, who remembers carcasses floating down the Vermillion River from compliments of the Frey plant? YUCK!

Four Corners was the hot spot in Lafayette. Remember Jacob's Restaurant? I'm really feeling old as I recall my best friend had her wedding reception there in 1980. Between Jacob's, Tony's (my ex husband washed dishes there when he was attending Carencro Hgh) and the Pat Theater, White Subdivision and other "high society" always had a place to go. I agree about those oak trees ... they were beautiful.

Was the Acadian Hotel always such a rat trap?

My father was involved in a lot of projects around the City ... The Townhouse when it was a private tennis club, the Center Cinema (when it was just one theater), the original planetarium and Cajun Field. It was cool as a young girl to get to crawl around those projects as they were being built.

When I was in high school, one of my brothers worked for Paul Fournet's Air Service. The plane fuel pump was set up in such a way that we could put it in our cars. It was over 100 octane I think! I recently ran into a Fournet at a child's sporting event and confessed our crimes to her. She was working there at the time and said we weren't the only ones stealing airplane fuel for our cars!

Who remembers the Jefferson Theater and the Gordon Hotel before it was condemned and then subsequently restored?

[Cajunguy]

OK, Jaguar, let's play.

You mention the Jefferson Theater. Do you remember the name of the theater that was right next to the Jefferson? (I do.) (It was one or two doors down going in the direction of the underpass)

And what about what it cost us (as students) to get into the Jefferson on Saturday afternoons?

Come on, all you "old-timers" out there. Fess up.

.

[TBEAR]

Jaguar, The one with the people standing in the front was my grandmother's daddy who owned it, Elie, in the 20's and it was on the main st of Milton near the elem school. They used to play cards on at the far room on the right every Sunday afternoon. Not in the picture, next to the store was a old dance hall that use to hop alot according to my grandmother who would sneak into it when she was a young teenager.

The other one, where they are inside, is a different store, from the early 30's it was owned by my grandfather's daddy. The little boy in the picture is my dad. It was also on main st in Milton but nearer where the church is.

Both of these stores took payment for seed, goods, etc, by letting the stores hold the deeds to property then if they didnt pay the money owed the store would keep the deed. The store from the 30s was a partnership between two people, my grandfather's daddy and another man. The store ended up shutting down, but before it did so the other man took the deeds from the safe and went to the Vermilion parish clerk of courts recording all of those peoples property in his name. Well back then it was first come first serve and my great grandfather was never able to get 1/2 of the deeds back like would have been rightly owed to him. Needless to say alot of that property stolen by the other man has numerous oilwells on it today and his descendants have reaped the benefits from royalties.

And I used an Adobe photoshop technique to turn the black and white ones into color. Before both my grandmother's died I had made them into color, and it amazed them. The color enhancement brought tears to their eyes because thats how they remembered it, in full color.

[TBEAR]

Jaguar, I also uploaded two old maps to webshots of the parishes of Louisiana, check out how they changed, notice Lafayette parish went down to gulf coast at the beginning then separated into what it is now by 1844. Also notice in the first map Mexico was where texas later came to be.

Sorry about the low quality but thats scanned from my records, also if it appears to small when click on it, click the map again once while your looking at it, and it will blow it up a bit.

These maps came from the Lafayette Diocese when I was researching my geneology.

[zoe10850]

The fuel at Fournet's was 110 octane, and 120 octane.

I remember when Guilbeau Road was the country, when West Congress ended past the high school, Ambassador Pkwy was New Flanders, when people shopped the oil center or Northgate, when crime was not an issue, when USL had a football team, when you went out, you knew a lot of people who were out also, when you could talk to our elected officials and they often listened.

[Cajunguy]

BUMP UP!!

Come on, there HAS to be a few more of us old-timers around here. Somebody out there must remember some stuff we've forgotten about.

Where are you there, Jaguar? I'm still waiting to see if anyone remembers the name of that other theater, and how much we paid to get into the Jefferson back when. ;D

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[zoe10850]

The old quonset hut one at 4 corners was the Nona as I recall.

[Cajunguy]

Wasn't that one the "Pat", and the one on Simcoe across from La. Motors the "Nona"?

Could have 'em backwards, but I think I remember it that way.

Oh, and someone mentioned earlier, the Twin Drive-in on Johnston St. across from Judice Inn, and the other one was the Showtown Drive-in on the Thruway at Butcher Switch Rd.

And wow, how can we forget about Judice Inn? Still some of the best burgers in town.

.

[Quest]

The "Pat" was the theatre at 4-corners. The "Nona" was about a half a block down from Louisiana Motors / Pontiac Point.

I remember Olite Jacob's biscuits, those biscuits were the best in the world and the Sunday dinners at Jacob's.

I remember buying a pitcher of beer for a buck 25 at Dirty Dan's on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

I remember when elected "Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees. And both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people."
(Henry Clay)