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W e d n e s d ay, M a r c h 19, 2025
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Were trains once ferried across the river in BR?
BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
After reading the Feb. 2 Curious Louisiana story about the Southern Pacific Railroad line connecting Baton Rouge and Lafayette in the early 20th century, Craig Bridges’ interest was piqued. “The story said there was no train track crossing the Mississippi River at that time, so the train was carried across to West Baton Rouge Parish on a ferry, where it connected with the railroad track at a place called Anchorage,” the Baker resident said. “Where was Anchorage located in West Baton Rouge?”
Brent Corbin sweeps the front porch at his Cypress restoration house.
STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
A PIECE OF HISTORY
Two stories coincide Port Allen resident Debbie Martin knew its exact location from her genealogy work of identifying and documenting lost African American cemeteries in West Baton Rouge.
ä See CURIOUS, page 2G
Louisiana home with cypress siding is getting new life
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PROVIDED PHOTO BY WEST BATON ROUGE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer
ald cypress trees once covered more than a million acres of Louisiana before the logging boom, which nearly eliminated all of the old-growth cypress. Cypress logging for commercial markets grew to industrial levels from 1870 to 1930 with the advent of the pull boat and mechanical skidder, “which changed the game rapidly as thousands of acres of profitable cypress were logged out of Louisiana swamps,” said Jacob Gautreaux, an adjunct history instructor at University of Louisiana at Lafayette who specializes in Louisiana environmental history. The cypress tree, called “wood eternal,” is hardy, so its lumber was and is an ideal building material. Brent Corbin saw beyond the serious fixer-upper status of one old Baton Rouge home with cypress siding to reveal its strength and beauty. Even though some questioned the decision, Corbin believed the home was worth investing in and saving — even if it took a long time to restore. “One of the beauties of cypress, and particularly really old cypress,
The George S. Walker train ferry transports a train across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to the Anchorage railroad site in West Baton Rouge Parish in 1937.
Musical evolution continues for world renowned La. accordionist Accordion ace Corey Ledet has made fans dance to zydeco on the beaches of Hawaii. He’s toured Russia with his own security detail in tow. Ledet recently had so many Alaskans moving and grooving at the Anchorage Folk Festival Herman that the astonished Fuselier promoter booked him for another fest. But after 22 years on stages near and far, along with two Grammy nominations, Ledet admits the March 11 gig at the Smoothie King Center in New
The exterior of Brent Corbin’s Cypress restoration house is it is very insect resistant and water resistant because it has a high natural oils content in it,” Corbin said. “It basically provides its own water barrier. It holds up under the weather extremely well.”
Big project with stunning potential Corbin, executive director of the national nonprofit Reformed Youth Ministries, is based in Baton Rouge
but works with church youth groups across the country. He was on a Zoom call in the spring of 2021 when a friend mentioned an older home located on the LSU Lakes that may be for sale. Corbin knew it was a big project, but the location was alluring. Corbin grew up in the Oklahoma oil fields helping his dad — a childhood
ä See CYPRESS, page 2G
Old-growth cypress homes preserve a piece of history of when Louisiana swamps, however short-lived, produced a premier and sought-after wood that served as a rot-resistant framework for housing.” JACOB GAUTREAUX, adjunct history instructor at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
ä See LEDET, page 2G
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