GARYVILLE TOWN HISTORY

Garyville was established as a company town, built and run for the benefit of the Company's employees.� Here, the Lyon Lumber Company, which bought the old Glencoe sugar plantation, developed which was, at one time, the second largest pine mill in the world.

Other nearby plantations included Angelina and Hope.� Angelina went under in 1890. Hope was demolished in 1913.

An ancient forest of massive cypress trees was the main draw for the lumber company and Lyons Cypress was in operation until 1931.� At its height of operation, Lyons was processing 225,000 board feet of lumber annually, with an annual payroll of $1 million to their 1.200 local employees.

The story of coming up with a name for the town is apparently quite true.� At a board of directors meeting, the subject came up of naming the company town. As the son-in-lay of company founder Thomas R. Lyon, John W. Gary, was absent, his name was perpetuated by a vote of the board.� Gary later succeeded to the company presidency after Lyon's death.

It was laid out with the original boundaries being West Street, East Street, with Main Street up the middle.� Hopeville, formerly part of the old Hope Plantation is to the west, and Little Hope, formerly part of the old Little Hope Plantation, is to the east.� The merging of the plantations of Antoine Vicner, Jean Heltz, Honore Landreaux and J. Lavergne and Brothers formed the old Hope Plantation.

The Garyville Post Office was established in 1903.� The Gary State Bank, which building stands empty on Railroad Avenue (badly damaged by 1965's hurricane Betsy), was established in 1910.� The Garyville School, built in 1903, was originally a four-room structure with a central hall and two classrooms to each side. In July 1910, two more classrooms were added and another two in 1920.� In 1935, and auditorium was built.�

St. Hubert's Catholic Church was established in 1907 in Hopeville after church services were temporarily held in the Garyville Public Building.� Also in 1903, the Big Store (operated by the lumber company) stood next to the railroad station.� A community club was also built in 1903 and included a poolroom, library, dance hall and auditorium.� The Garyville Theater, built in 1911, stood nearby.� Hotels in town included the Magnolia Hotel, built in 1903, and the Welcome Hotel, in Hopeville.

In its heyday, Garyville was one of the largest towns between New Orleans and Baton Rouge with three barber shops, six boarding houses, and auto dealership, a Masonic temple, three dairies, and ice plant, a bakery, a library, a gymnasium, three railroad stations, two schools, a swimming pool, two drug stores, an ice cream parlor, two baseball parks, a tennis court, a movie theater and the bank.

Two things spelled the demise of the lumber industry in Garyville.� One was the mill fires of 1926 and 1928, each of which destroyed the company's entire lumber storage. The second fire, in addition, also spread to the town and destroyed 37 homes.

Vita Monica remembers that summer night.� She was 12 years old at the time.� Now 83 years young, Vita recalled,� "The whole town was lit up!� You could drop a pin on the ground and find it.� They all ran down Church Street to the River Road.� I remember my grandfather had a bucket at the front of the house and a ladder at the back of the house." She also remembered hearing about a man on Canal Street in New Orleans who noticed the distant glow on the horizon and hurried to Garyville to see the fire.� However, as she recalled, "that's when Garyville folded up."

Her father, Epifanio Navarra, and his brother, Anthony, operated a store near the Gary Bank.� "It was a real thing to see who came to town on the train," Vita said.� Recently, she sat on the porch of the former dentist, Dr. O.J. Ory, (now occupied by one of her grandsons) and recalled distant days.� She later went on a drive through Garyville, pointing out still existing landmarks, such as the old Masonic Hall (now a private residence) and the Walter J. Stebbins house, now occupied by her son, Carl.� The house is also distinctive for having an elevator in it.

The second factor was, quite simply, running out of trees to harvest in August 1931.� When that happened, Lyons pulled up stakes and moved to Oregon, the assets being sold to Walter J. Stebbins.� The shock of the mill's shutdown crippled the town, as 1,000 local workers lost their jobs.� Stebbins went on to operate a lumber and salvage business until his death in 1961.� His children continued in the business until the mid 1970's, but it was no replacement for the massive industry provided by the lumber mill.

In 1965, Hurricane Betsy removed the original office building roof and upper porch.� The porch has been restored and a new roof placed but a large hole remains in the ceiling of the second floor to show the extent of the damage.�� Other damage in the town included the old Fallgoust store across the tracks from the lumber office.� Meanwhile, in a 12 foot square safe, the company records for three-quarters of the 20th Century awaits rescue from time and decay.

Another mark of distinction in Garyville's more recent history were the annual LSU- Tulane wheel barrow parades.� Loser in bets on the annual LSU-Tulane football game would push the winners around in gaily decorated wheelbarrows, drawing huge crowds of cheering fans for both teams.

In the late 1986, Stebbins' family considered razing the old office building but in 1987, a group of local citizens organized the Garyville Improvement Association and accomplished the necessary repairs to the building, even running several Timbermill Festivals each October to help raise money toward the effort.� In 1989, the German Acadian Coast Historical and Genealogical Society got Garyville named to the National Register of Historic Places, with its 62 historic buildings. However, efforts stalled and a new effort is now under way to save the museum and re open it on a full time basis.� On June 11, 1999, Governor Foster signed legislation for the state to take over themuseum, provided it was out of debt.� On June 28, the Parish Council approved a land purchase to accomplish that.� Orillion, a native of Pointe Coupee Parish who has only lived in Garyville for the past year in one of the old company built houses, says he "loves history'"and pledged to continue the work begun and see the museum become a viable part of local economic development and tourism.� " hate to see history just die," Orillion said.� Now, it apparently will live on in Garyville.�