Lake Plain Dealing - Go “North” to Cool Down!

 With record-breaking heat lately, let’s go north to cool down - well, to north Bossier Parish that is, to Lake Plain Dealing! Lake Plain Dealing started its life as a bond issue to protect the area from flooding but it has become a part of the community for its less-utilitarian but just as life-sustaining role as a place for recreation, fishing and enjoying the natural setting of Plain Dealing.

In 1956 the association called the Upper West Fork of Cypress Bayou Watershed and the Board of Supervisors of the Dorcheat Soil & Water Conservation District established three lakes in the Plain Dealing area to thwart persistent flooding. The municipality passed a $52,000 bond issue and the Bossier Parish Police Jury built and blacktopped roads to the lakes. The rights-of-way were mostly donated by citizens. The sawmill S.H. Bolinger and Company donated work crews and equipment for clearing out and leveling up the shoreline and picnic grounds. Prisoners cleaned scrub and debris from the recreation area. Boy Scouts stacked brush and planted grass. In 1961, the endeavor was named national Watershed Project of the Year.

 Lake Plain Dealing c. 1960

One of these three lakes was Lake Dogwood, used for flood control and fish and wildlife. There was an unnamed lake for flood control only. The largest of the lakes, Lake Plain Dealing, remains popular for recreation and has been enjoyed for picnicking, boating, swimming, water skiing and fishing. One former Plain Dealing resident remembered in an online post about the lake how she “sure did have fun there sixty years ago.” She remembers swimming area, a raft and some beach area, a concession stand, some woods, and a spinning ride that would throw you into the lake!

The Home Demonstration Club, other women’s clubs, and the American Legion helped financially in projects around the lakes. In addition to the myriad informal swimming and family picnic outings, local newspapers of the early days of Lake Plain Dealing announced a wide variety of organized activities there, such as skeet shooting, turkey shoots, fishing tournaments, sunrise church services, water ski shows, scout campouts, and trail rides. Some of these events at the Lake Plain Dealing park were part of Dogwood Drive festivities held annually in Plain Dealing. What is omitted from these newspaper articles is that, like schools, recreation areas were segregated. Regrettably, in its early days, Lake Plain Dealing and its amenities were intended for and enjoyed by white people only.

 Lake Plain Dealing c. 1960

Today, Plain Dealing women are again the fundraising and volunteer movers and shakers readying the park and facilities for all families, working together as “Plain Dealing Proud” along with parish and civic funding and labor. Rope and buoys were again placed in the swimming area and recently a dock was put in and a swing set improved. The Dogwood Drive no longer exists but now Lake Plain Dealing is part of Louisiana’s National Scenic Boom or Bust Byway in the northwest part of the state. Visitors to Lake Plain Dealing now have new picnic tables sitting on concrete pads that have been added thanks to the Byways designation. Apparently the wooden spinning structure that throws you into the lake has not made a comeback –changes in safety awareness over the intervening decades surely have a lot to do with that!

So if you’re looking for a place to cool off this hot summer, take a drive up “north,” to Plain Dealing and (safely) jump in the lake! Or, come see us in the nice and cool History Center. We’d love to hear your stories or see your pictures of Lake Plain Dealing or other recreation areas in the parish. Contact us at 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or visit us at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are now open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. For other intriguing facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok

Article by: Pam Carlisle