The Lifelines of the Nation

It’s nearly that time of year again, as travel season here in the United States begins in less than two months. Therefore, let’s take a look at one of the country’s most important pieces of infrastructure: The United States Interstate Highway System. Often shortened to just the Interstate or “I,” this system of crisscrossing road ways are the arteries of United States inter- and intrastate travel. With the interstates, what would otherwise be heavy traffic and constant stoplights is replaced with steady movement and high speeds. This and more are all thanks to the work put in nearly a century prior, in the wake of the Second World War.

The purpose of the U.S. Interstate Highways is to help bring about quick and easy interstate commerce, with the added benefit of allowing for the rapid transportation of men and material for National Defense purposes. The idea was initially championed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and indeed the Roosevelt government would pass the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944, but the idea was never given real funding until the Eisenhower Presidency. Eisenhower’s reasoning behind his support for an interstate system dates to 1919, when he accompanied a military convoy across the country. Couple this with his developed appreciation for the German highway system known as the Autobahn, and the President was poised to create something similar here in the United States. From this would come about the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (more popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956), which would see the construction of the first of the ubiquitous interstate highways here in America.

The interstates themselves are managed and maintained by the states they are in, though they were built with federal aid. Here in Bossier Parish, there are two such national lifelines: Interstates 20 and 220. The reasoning for the numbering of the interstates goes back to the 1956 act, which according to the Federal Highway Administration, declared that “routes with odd numbers run north and south, while even numbered run east and west. For north-south routes, the lowest numbers begin in the west, while the lowest numbered east-west routes are in the south.” There is a similar numbering system for the auxiliary interstates, most of which have a prefix before referencing the original interstate. So, I-220 is named in reference due to its connection to I-20, with the two referencing its status with I-20 as its only spur within Louisiana.

Interstate 20 is the main throughfare, passing from Webster parish, through Bossier, and into Caddo, taking a similar route to the older Overland Dixie Highway (Highway 80). I-20 begins in eastern South Carolina, just west of the city of Florence, and ends in southwestern Texas after joining with I-10. Interstate 220 was built as a bypass for the Shreveport-Bossier metro area, allowing drivers to avoid the busy congestion inside the city limits.

For Interstate 20, construction began locally in the early 1960s, crossing through the parish quickly. By 1962, the construction of Red River Bridge had begun. The substructure would be finished by October of that same year, according to the October 31, 1962, issue of the Bossier Press. In 1966, the first part of I-20 in Bossier would be opened to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

However, construction didn’t just stop in ‘66. As can be seen today, and has been seen for the past year, continuous improvements and repairs are done to the entire system to keep up with the demand and use of these vital roadways. Since our last look at the Interstate’s revitalization project here in Bossier, the project itself has been finished, with a ribbon cutting ceremony in June of this year, mirroring the original ceremony sixty years prior. In total, there are three-and-a-half miles of repaired roadway, which serve an estimated 100,000 vehicles per day according to the LaDOTD.

Looking to the future of the interstate system in Bossier Parish, a segment of the Interstate 69 is to be built in north Louisiana. I-69 begins near the border with Canada in Port Huron, Michigan and ends in Brownsville, Texas, at the Mexican border. Here in Bossier Parish, the local segment will begin after the interstate crosses into Bossier Parish from Webster north of Haughton, heading south to intersect with I-20, before exiting the Parish across the Red River near Elm Grove.

The U.S. interstates are as important as can be, both nationally and locally. These connective links pull together the various parts of the nation, and without them, the face of America would be radically different. From sea to shining sea, these highways are the lifelines of America.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

Bridge 605 & Foster Road Intersection, April 20, 1967 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History Center)

Barksdale Interchange at West End, looking east. April 20, 1967 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History

 Aerial view of Project Looking North, September 9, 1965 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History Center)

Aerial-looking E. from Barksdale Blvd., January 11, 1964 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History Center)

Article by: Jonah Daigle

From Trail to Highway: US 80 (Part 2)

Two weeks ago, this column took readers on a “horseless carriage” ride on the Dixie Overland Highway through Louisiana and Bossier Parish points like Red Chute and East Texas Street in Bossier City, and over the Red River into Shreveport. Named, not numbered, “auto trails” were the grass-roots answer to the public clamor for good roads that arose once mass-produced, more-affordable automobiles (such as the 1908 Ford Model-T) motored off the assembly line. By 1917, one of the most important, if now-forgotten, of these trails was the Dixie-Overland Highway. In this column, the ride continues later into the twentieth century on a more recognizable road for today’s drivers. By the middle of 1920’s, the United States government was waking up to both the national benefits and requirements of motorized travel, for pleasure (tourism), commerce, and defense, and with the creation of a national, numbered highway system in 1926, the Dixie Overland became US Highway 80.

                               

The Dixie Overland Highway had been only the second coast to coast auto route across the United States, coming after the Lincoln Highway, established in 1913, that connected New York City to San Francisco. The Dixie Overland, which connected Savannah, Georgia (and later, Tybee Island) to San Diego, CA, was the shorter of the two routes, and the only one that was considered year-round, given that it was not prone to the snowstorms that could make northern routes perilous or impassable. With the demand for good roads that arose almost overnight from new automobile owners, auto enthusiasts formed their own private auto clubs, formed the clubs into associations, and designed, surfaced, and maintained roads on a county by county, parish by parish, or town by town basis, over thousands of miles.

By 1920, the country was realizing if these automobiles could take us from one state to another, or even a handful of states, in only a day’s time, roads that were consistently maintained and easily navigated, were necessary. The U.S. was not long out of WWI, and wary of Bolshevism and a German invasion. WWI Army General Jack Pershing had extolled the efficient wonder that was the German Autobahn. Thus, the Federal Government was calling for a connected, well-maintained, physically resilient, as in able to withstand the weight of a convoy of tanks, national highway system. On February 20, 1925, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Howard M. Gore approved appointment of the Joint Board on Interstate Highways to design a uniform system of interstate numbering and marking to replace the national “hodgepodge” of named trails. On November 11, 1926, the US numbered Highway System was approved by American Association of State Highway Officials.

In addition to a federal highway system and administration, local roads departments also began to answer to or work with state and other more centralized highway departments. Louisiana had already formed its state highway department in 1922. The cause for good roads was eagerly taken up by Louisiana Governor Huey Long, who entered office in 1928. With less than 300 miles of paved roads in the state, Governor Long blamed his 1924 losing bid for governor on heavy rains that kept his rural supporters from the polls on account of deep mud. Long embraced the creation and paving of highways and the building of free bridges (as opposed to toll bridges, or ferries) to connect Louisianians that were far apart both in physical location and location on the political spectrum. He also saw paved roads as a way to put Louisiana on the national map, so to speak, with a goal of paving more roads, faster, than as many other states as possible.

                               

A photograph in the History Center collection shows Gov. Long, accompanied by his wife Rose, in 1929, cutting a ribbon at Fillmore (near Princeton and Haughton) in Bossier Parish to mark the opening of US Highway 80 from Shreveport to Minden. The Fillmore area was the last section to be paved on the Minden-Shreveport highway segment of Highway 80. In addition to paving, parts of the road were straightened, bridges widened, and hills made lower in order to make the highway less dangerous. This was especially so around Red Chute, which was considered one of the most dangerous points on Highway 80, according to the April 9, 1930, Minden Signal Tribune. The photo shows the first ribbon-cutting for a concrete road in the state, a visible reminder of the governor's theme to "get Louisiana out of the mud." A man identified in the Oct. 11, 1963, Shreveport Journal as Bossier banker and state senator V. V. Whittington, holds a sign that reads, “Gov. Long's Plan, 1932 Louisiana Will Lead the World in Good Roads”.

US 80 had the rare distinction that it very closely followed the original route of its “trail” or “trunk road” (main road) predecessor, the Dixie Overland Highway. Highway 80 as a coast-to-coast route has also been passed by, by the interstate highway system. I-20 was constructed here in the 1960s. Parts of US 80 have been decommissioned at a time, going eastward, so that currently the western terminus is in Dallas. The highway remains under an official historic designation in California.

Do you have any mementoes or stories of old US Highway 80 in Bossier? We would love to hear or see them. The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, located in the Bossier Central Library complex, remains closed while our new exhibits are completed. Watch our Facebook page or library website homepage for updates at www.bossierlibrary.org. You can also visit the website to use our online resources. You may call us at (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• US Dept. of Agriculture Bureau of Public Roads Map of United States Highways 80 and 90
• Ribbon Cutting, 1929, Highway 80 in Fillmore, LA, with Governor Huey Long.

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Bossier Parish Soldiers Gave All in Korean War

 On the evening of Sunday, July 26, 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower was nervous. The armistice ending the Korean War was due to be signed the following day, and according to White House Assistant Staff Secretary Arthur Minnich, Eisenhower feared “that there was the possibility that something would go wrong before the signing was complete.” Those fears proved unfounded, as the armistice was signed the following morning at 10 a.m., 73 years ago, ending the conflict which saw families across the nation burying loved ones killed in action, including three from Bossier Parish.

James E. Kelleher Jr. had been a resident of Benton since birth. Articles in The Bossier Banner and The Planters Press newspapers state that he was a graduate of Benton High School and entered the U.S. Army in 1948, training in California before being sent to Japan as part of the 5th Calvary Regiment, 1st Calvary Division. Rising through the ranks, he became a sergeant and, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission, was a recipient of the Purple Heart, Korean Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal, among others. After being wounded on August 2, 1950, he wrote a letter to his mother saying she shouldn’t worry about him. “I am not in too bad a condition,” he stated. “I did get shot though, and it didn’t feel very good.” A copy of the letter is in the History Center archives. Kelleher returned to duty in late August, but was wounded again during fighting on November 28, 1950. After recuperating, he rejoined his division in mid-January 1951. Approximately a month later, he was killed in action. He was 20 years old.

Lionel King of Plain Dealing also served in the Army, the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Born in 1922, this African American soldier earned several medals while achieving the rank of master sergeant. Among the service decorations listed for him by the ABMC are the Purple Heart, Republic of Korea War Service Medal and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. Although additional information about King’s time of service was difficult to find, online records of the National Archives show that he was killed in action February 14, 1951, during fighting in South Korea. According to The Planters Press, his family was notified approximately a month later. He was 28 years old. Charles J. Steelman hailed from Plain Dealing as well, and like King and Kelleher, served in the Army.

He was a private first class with the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, and his awards included the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal and Republic of Korea War Service Medal, according to the ABMC. Information about Steelman was also difficult to find, but National Archive records show he was killed in action in the South on February 19, 1951, aged 19.

Today, the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. commemorates these three men and the more than 36,000 other Americans who lost their lives fighting to defend South Korea. The names Kelleher, King and Steelman are inscribed there. At least two of the names can also be found here at home. Sgt. Kelleher was buried at Lay Cemetery in Benton, while Pfc. Steelman was laid to rest at Stevens Cemetery in Caddo Parish. The final resting place of MSgt. King was unable to be verified. Their sacrifice is stated simply but eloquently by the phrase attributed to Korean War veteran Howard Osterkamp, “All gave some; some gave all.”

If you have any letters, photos or other information relating to residents of Bossier Parish who’ve served in the military, the History Center may be interested in adding the material to its research collection. Call us to learn more. We are currently closed for renovations, but can still be reached by phone at (318) 746-7717, and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

Sergeant James E. Kelleher Jr. / photo courtesy of A Footstep In Time & Donna Hinton Warke

Grave marker for Private First Class C J Steelman/ photo courtesy of Family Miner

Purple Heart Medal/ photo courtesy of Clipart-library.com

Article: by Kevin Flowers

The Dixie-Overland Highway: The Coast-to-Coast Ancestor of US 80 (Part 1)

After the first massed-produced Model T Ford rolled off the assembly line in 1908, more and more Americans began a never-ending love affair with cars, along with a never-ending desire: Decent roads. The grass-roots answer to this wish in the early 20th century became a series of named, not numbered, “auto trails.” By 1917, one of the most important, if now-forgotten, of these trails was the Dixie-Overland Highway. The Dixie-Overland Highway, which later became US 80, was an ambitious sea to sea route that started in Savannah, GA, and ended in San Diego, CA. In between, it traversed Bossier Parish, went through the heart of Bossier City and crossed the Red River into Shreveport.

Mass-marketed in addition to being mass produced, the Model T automobiles continued rolling off the assembly lines by the millions. All these new automobile owners across the country wanted roads on which to not just drive, but to travel. Drivers didn’t wait for state highway departments to form and provide the roads they needed. In many states, like Louisiana, that would take another decade, or more. Instead, automobile owners formed automobile clubs, and these clubs advocated for and organized the original interstate “trails.”

The Automobile Club of Savannah, Ga. conceived of the Dixie-Overland Highway in July, 1914. First the club wanted a route across their state, but almost immediately they began to think bigger. The club conceived of the first Southern coast to coast route for automobiles. They wasted no time in forming an association, electing officers, and agreeing on a plan of operation to “promote the construction and use of a highway through the States of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.” The association determined a practical route and proudly determined that the Dixie-Overland Highway would be “the shortest, straightest, and only year-round (non-snowbound) ocean to ocean highway in the United States.”

On February 14, 1917, the Dixie-Overland Highway Association was officially incorporated in the State of Georgia for a 20-year period as a nonprofit organization headquartered in Columbus. Each state along the route had its own representatives. In Louisiana, where the highway followed the route of the V. S. & P Railroad, the state was represented enthusiastically by Caddo Parish businessman and planter Will Mercer, who was originally of Bossier and well-known in the parish. The whole eight-state association met yearly. In only its second year of existence, 1918, the Dixie-Overland Highway Association chose Shreveport, LA as the site of this meeting. The meeting started off dramatically with the hotly contested issue of which of two California cities would be the highway’s terminus, Los Angeles or San Diego. (Eventually, San Diego got the official honor). But one of the truly most urgent issues for the road had emerged only 2 months after the association formed; the United States’ entrance into WWI on April 6, 1917.

In 1918, the Dixie-Overland Highway Association focused its energies on obtaining “material assistance” from the Federal Government, urging it to put the newly-available asset of the “motor truck” to full and critical use. In an account of his own cross-country drive across the route in the spring and summer of 1918, which was published soon afterwards in the Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus, GA, on Aug. 4th, Field Secretary Leland J. Henderson hoped to make the case that wartime was making the road indispensable, and that helping communities finish their part in it was in the federal government’s best interest. Of the return portion of his trip, Henderson wrote, “A vast amount of freight is now being carried on the highway. Motor trucks and burro teams have the preference. The retarding of highway construction is causing a noticeable deterioration of the roads in many sections. Rail facilities are largely absorbed in carrying war material.” Then he asked the reader, “How will we keep up the commerce of the country without a dependable system of roads?”

By 1919, California had completed its section of the Dixie-Overland route, and Georgia already had theirs complete for a few years. Louisiana was at about 65 percent completion, which was “near the bottom of the column in progress made,” according to Will Mercer, quoted in the June 12, 1919, Bossier Banner-Progress. This work was being done on a parish by parish, as well as a state by state, basis, so road quality could vary greatly. Arizona was well-ahead of game, paving their section in concrete. Elsewhere, providing an improved, “hard” surface could simply mean a dirt road that was graded, widened and extra hard-packed, or that gravel was laid.

Stay tuned here for the rest of the story next month. By the mid-1920s, state highway departments developed and a federal numbered system of highways was created, including US 80. In addition, come to World War II’s Day (Tuesday) next week, on Sept 8th at 10:30 AM in the Bossier Central Library Complex to hear speaker Wesley Harris, historian from the Claiborne Parish Library. Mr. Harris will speak about Highway 80’s role in WWII. He will show us the highway’s importance to the US military from coast to coast, with special mention, of course, of Barksdale, then a US Army Air Field.

The History Center remains closed while our new exhibits are completed, but watch our Facebook page or library website homepage for updates at www.bossierlibrary.org. You can also visit the website to use our online resources. You may call us at (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Snapshot of a Whippet touring car speeding west off Red Chute Bayou hill on what is now Highway 80, circa 1925. History Center photo, courtesy of Claude Corbett.
• Map of the Dixie-Overland Highway, 1918. From the American Geographic Society Library’s Digital Map Collection, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Article By: Pam Carlslie 

An Age of Steam – Steamboats and the Red River

The Red River is the single most important geographical feature in Bossier Parish, broadly determining the Caddo-Bossier border. The Red, as is common knowledge, was once subject to the Great Raft, a great log jam that had built up over several centuries. In the wake of the American westward expansion, however, the American Government declared the necessity of clearing the Great Raft to facilitate river traffic. This decision would have lasting cultural and commercial effects, to this day, by allowing the transit of steamboats to the Red River above Alexandria, and into North Louisiana.

It is important to note that the Red River in Louisiana can broadly be divided into two distinct regions: above Alexandria (here-in the upper-Red River) and below Alexandira (here-in the lower-Red River). The falls at Alexandria, which give Rapides Parish its name, presented a major hurdle to river traffic during several months out of the year. Furthermore, the periodic times of lowered river levels for the Red River meant that the steamboats that did transit the Red River were forced to adapt their designs to have a shallower draft, helping to prevent getting caught in the dangerous areas of low water. This feature of the river meant that while river traffic on the Red was possible, it could carry risks either financial or physical. Nevertheless, the upper-Red River in Louisiana would develop a rich tradition of waterborne transit, particularly through the use of steamboats.

Shreve’s expedition, after the clearing of a large portion of the Great Raft, allowed for the building of Shreve Town, which would late become Shreveport in the future Caddo Parish. Bossier, at the time of Shreve Town’s founding, was still a part of Claiborne Parish. While much of the region’s economic activity would remain on the western bank of the Red River, the communities on the eastern developed ways to the river and beyond. For instance, Shed Road was purpose built to allow the transit of goods from the hilly and marshy interior of Bossier Parish to the Red River, wherein the goods would be shipped south towards New Orleans.

Shipping agricultural output was not the only use for steamboats in the region. Sometimes they were used in more interesting and exciting ways. For example, according to the July 1, 1954, edition of the Bossier Banner-Progress, in 1892 there was severe flooding in the region due to extended rainfall. This flooding left people fleeing for higher ground, and the roads and railroads became untraversable. Herein came Sam Willer, a prominent shop owner in the then-small town of Benton. At personal expense to himself, Willer navigated to the Red River and gained the attention of a passing steamboat. He chartered the captain to take him to Shreveport to acquire desperately needed supplies, before both Willer and the unnamed ship returned to Benton, sailing through the flooded lowlands of Bossier Parish to deliver relief. It was thanks to the particulars of steamboat construction that allowed the vessel to navigate the treacherous waters.

As mentioned earlier, however, the use of steamboats on the Red River came with potential risks, as both the river and the ships themselves were prone to causing incidents ranging from snags, fires, boiler explosions, or even collision between ships. One such incident is the tale of the Nat Dortch. The Nat Dortch was a steamboat built in 1889 in Jefferson, Indiana. After being purchased in 1984, the Nat Dortch began running a line between New Orleans and the Red River. Within a timespan of just over one year, the Nat Dortch sank twice along the Red River after hitting snags, with the second incident taking place at what is now Lake Ninock near the Lock and Dam #5. In total, there were 150 steamboat losses along the Red River, just between the city of Natchitoches and the Carolina Bluffs located in the northern part of Bossier Parish.

All great things, however, must come to an end. With the coming of the railroad as a function of the United States’ westward expansion, the widespread usage of steamboats on the Red River declined. That is not to say that they vanished entirely, as even today the image of steamships on the Red River persists in the local culture.

Of particular assistance in writing this article was a 1999 history prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District titled Steamboats on Red River: A History of Waterborne Commerce And An Assessment of Steamboat Losses Along the Red River, Louisiana and Arkansas. This source, and a variety of others, are available in the History Center’s Circulating and Reference collections. 

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. The History Center is currently closed until further notice, though staff remains available. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• River boat at a landing on the Red River - BPL HC (2001.005.003)
• Sam Willer on a horse - BPL HC (2002.034.003)
• Wrecked steamboat near a bridge on the Red River - BPL HC (2001.051.017E)

Article by: Jonah Daigle