Dirt to Gravel Roads, a Livery Stable and the First Automobiles on the Island

From Sicily Island:  A Partial History, compiled by Mickie Smith:

In the late 1800s the road for vehicles still ran along the bluff, going under the trestle, then back up on the bluff and paralleling Falcon Bayou, up to the York place.

In 1905, the Police Jury granted a public road leading from Florence along the New Orleans and North Western Railroad to Peck Station and on to the Winnsboro road, provided the citizens of Florence and vicinity build the necessary fences and gateways through private property at their own expense.  (Catahoula Parish Police Jury Minutes, Ordinance # 2118, 1905)

Governor John M. Parker

These were dirt roads, for it was not until between 1920 and 1924, during the time that John M. Parker was governor of Louisiana that any gravel was placed on any roads.  


For this reason Governor Parker has been referred to as the 'gravel-road' governor. (Taylor, Joe Gray, Louisiana:  A Bicentennial History, Norton & Co., 1976, p. 153)

From an oral interview with Mrs. Beatrice Bryan Denham, Mrs. Mickie writes the following:

In the early 1900s, the livery business enjoyed a rather brisk trade.  Nearly every train that came in brought "drummers", who had to have transportation to Harrisonburg when they finished calling on the merchants in Sicily Island.  On the way to Harrisonburg, they called on Mr. Wellman, who owned a store between Leland and Bayou Louis.  Mr. Zack Bennett built a livery stable about where the fabric ship is now located.  [The Short Stop is now located in this general area.]  This was a large building, with stalls along the sides for the horses and buggies, with wagons and carriages in the center part.  Mr. Bennett also contracted to carry the mail to Harrisonburg and enjoyed a thriving business until it was taken over by the automobile age.

From an oral interview with Mr. E. W. Chisum, Jr., Mrs. Mickie writes the following:

Mr. Walling Chisum, Sr. was the first resident in Florence to own an automobile.  This was a 1911 Overland touring car, which would ride five people.  It was black, as all automobiles were then, with brass headlights which were lit with carbide.  He hired a man to come out from Natchez to teach him to drive, and he in turn taught several more people to drive.  Some 'drummers' preferred to ride to Harrisonburg in an auto rather than a horse-drawn carriage, so Mr. Chisum used his auto as livery service to Harrisonburg.  He didn't continue this service very long, because the roads were so bad.  The second auto in Florence was a Ford Model-T Roadster, owned by Dr. Charles Gordon.