I grew up on Valentine it was a lil plantation where families get together and have family gatherings I was born in 1973 and this is where I was born and raised it’s my hometown ♥️♥️♥️
I went to school in Valentine after Hurricane Betsy. My school in Lockport was used as a storm shelter so they could not hold classes there. The school notebooks my mother bought us at the start of every school year were made of paper from the Valentine Paper Plant.
I grew up in Valentine right behind that church ( Isrealite Baptist Church).. My Dad, Norman (Toe -Joe ) Payne was one of the sugar cane farmers for years. And the white fence that surrounds that piece of land. That's was my Dad's garden. Every once in a while I would go back and visit to see the land.
What's up Dusty.. You got to admit bro.. You think back.. Life was simple back then on both sides of the bayou of Valentine.. I miss when our Pop's used to take us fishing.. But I truly miss going hunting in the Back of Valentine.
In the early 1950 era, my family, (part of the Richoux famlily) living in Marrero, would drive to Valentine to visit my Aunt Edna and Uncle Bean Danos in their house on the Valentine p;lantation, the first house you came to driving from Lockport. They later moved the whole family to Pecan Grove.
@LouisianaDread I have a true story for you if you are interested. It's about Jean Lafitte and his gift to his Lt Louis Chighizola's wife. It was a golden thimble made from a left over Spanish gold coin. My father still has the thimble in his possession. Louis Chighizola aka Nez Coupe is my 8 time Great Grandfather. At one time he owned most of the land in the center of Grand Isle. He was part of Lafitte's inner circle...
I wonder if a book is in your future where you focus on the backstories of bridges in louisiana. You certainly will have a lot of photos from all of your travels!
Demand for specialty stationary dried up. That's what the papermill made. Acoustic panels used to be made out of the bagasse, and glue factory next door. The glue factory is now a specialty chemical company, mostly for toll manufacturing and drying of chemicals for major companies.
I was told by my mother that the reason des Allemands existed was that it was the community that grew up with POWs that were happy ro remain on Bayou LaFource after the war.
The culture shock, along with extreme climate difference from Germany, foods, languages and customs, must have struck the German PoW's as seeming like being on another planet lol. What's not to love about the Texas Gulf Coast? I'm a native Texan, who has Cajun in my family, grew up in Orange Texas, right on the Sabine river. No place I'd rather be than on our little slice of heaven!
Man speaking of old warn out bridges the 5 bridges on hwy 90 southeast of Slidell have been closed for a few months now they're saying they won't get repair estimates until 2025. A friend of mine is the only resident between the east-middle and East Pearl River Bridge. Where Nielson Swamp Tours used to be in the 90's.
