McINTYRE

McIntyre is NOT a part of Dixie Inn, Dixie Inn is a part of McIntyre! I did not mention Shaw's Grocery, Brunson's Grocery or The Ho-Made. Debbie Blankenship's parents owned the Ho-Made. Also, there was a Rolling Grocery, a truck loaded with all types of staple groceries that came to McIntyre every Tuesday. It was owned and operated by Jack Perryman.

McIntyre was a thriving community. We had all the Industry -- Gifford Hill. Dixie Inn just off the bayou.

Carl Shaw, Class of 1964

That was not a cotton gin nor a grist mill. It was a concrete mixing plant where culverts were made, run by Gifford-Hill. Goat Hill was where the Eastside kids played.

Carl Shaw, 1964
 

                         Webster Parish Centennial 1871 - 1971

                         by the Webster Parish Police Jury

                         Submitted by Ann Mays Harlan

There were four stores at McIntyre. Milfords Grocery, Mr. Milford was the father of Mrs. Calvin  (Pauline) Liner,  and the grandfather of James Liner and Larry Milford. James graduated from Minden High School in 1955.

Hicks Grocery  She was located right in front of the cotton gin.  Mrs. Hicks was the mother of Mrs. Dolan Pullig. 

Do any of you remember summers when the tent show would come to McIntyre? It was always the same show? Treasure Island? They would always set up right in front of the Cotton Gin behind Mrs. Hicks store in front of the railroad tracks. I can still smell that odor.  What was that smell? If you remember please e-mail MindenMemories@aol.com and tell me. I thought it was awful. 

H. H. and Mrs. Nell Johnson had the following named children; Marianna, Leslie Neal, Joan, Jimmy and Johnny. I believe they all attended and graduated from Louisiana Tech.

There was also Webb's Tourist Courts.  They had a daughter named Dolores Webb who played in the band at Minden High School. Dolores graduated from Minden High School.

The Methodist Church and and Baptist church shared the cemetery behind the Antioch Baptist church.  

Dolan Pullig may have been the only store who sold gas but I am not sure. He was a very nice man. He was very active in the Antioch Baptist Church. He had two sons, Jimmy and Jackie. Jimmy graduated in 1955 and Jackie in 1956 from Doyline High School. Both graduated from college. They were very smart boys.

 During the war the Hands Drive-In was located at Rest-A-While which some might have considered part of the McIntyre community. Every      night cars were lined up waiting to get in. Movies were very popular during the war years.

                                                                  McIntyre, Louisiana

                                                                COTTON GIN @ GRIST MILL BUILT IN 1914                         

                                        McIntyre Lane & Shreveport Rd. The old Cotton Gin & Grist Mill which was built in 1914                           

                                        Three stores once stood in front of this gin, Milford's, Hick's and Johnson's.       

                                       THE MCINTYRE COMMUNITY HOUSE

                                     (Now The Dixie Inn Lions Club Building)

Some of our activities centered around the McIntyre Community House. You didn't have to have money to have fun back then. It was a good thing because we sure didn't have any. Once a week we would walk to the community house to check out books. We could either walk down highway 80 or down the railroad tracks. Either way, it was a long hot walk but we didn't seem to notice.

The McIntyre Community House is now the  home of the Dixie-Inn Lions Club. Back in the earl years people voted here, singing schools were held here, folks had box suppers, and other fun evens. One night a week we usually had a community singing, using gospel songs published by Stamps or Stamps-Baxter Music Compannies.  

                                                              PA2344 Webster Parish Book Mobile

             Do you remember the son Tis Amazing? If so, please send me the words. It was my favorite song.              

                                                               MindenMemories@AOL.COM

     Compliments of the  LSU Archives - Shreveport , One University Pl.

 Shreveport, La. 71115-2399  

 Is it possible the librarian used this historical old bookmobile to deliver books to and from the McIntyre Community house in 1943?  

On Friday nights singings were held at the community house. They were lots of fun. The favorite song to sing was "Tis Amazing."  Some people took piano lessons at the community house.

                                         HAVING FUN AT THE RAILROAD TRACKS

One of the games you can play while walking down the railroad track is to see who can keep their balance on the rail the longest without falling off. If we saw a train coming we would put a penny on the track just to see the flattened coin after the train had run over it. We also counted the cars. Various activities performed by workman provided some of our entertainment. Replacement of tracks and ties by a crew of section hands who traveled by hand-car always required our attention. Sometimes we found steel nuts and railroad spikes discarded by the workers. Today they are collectors items. Sometimes we would gather the soft coal or stones that were dropped and take it to the railroad bridge and throw it just to hear the sound as it dropped into the water.

                                              MCINTYRE COMMUNITY
                                     
There were three grocery stores in McIntyre. Johnson's, Hicks, and Milford's. Down the road was Pullig's gas station and Webb's Motel. That was all. In the other directions was Mr. Hands drive-in movie. Of course, we had Antioch Baptist Church and the Methodist Church. Rev. William Paul Cassels was the minister at the Methodist Church. I liked him a lot. He let us attend his vacation bible schools in the summer even though we were members of Antioch Baptist Church. I always wanted to go to his church on Sunday mornings but I couldn't because I was a Baptist. Today I belong to the Methodist Church. Rev. William Paul Cassels - Nov. 7, 1905 - Jan. 21, 1988 - Buried in the Old Shongaloo-Cemetery. There were good people living in the McIntyre Community. They left me with many fond memories of living on Route four in Minden, Louisiana. In 1948 we moved to 616 Police Street in Minden where I attended Junior High school in the 1910 building which was later torn down. In 2005, the school where I attended attended 9th, 10th and 11th grade was also demolished. Only our Memories of Minden remain. Will you share yours with us?

Reading about McIntyre and Antioch Baptist Church on the McIntyre web page brought back memories of Vacation Bible School at Antioch Baptist Church. Does anyone else remember Mrs. Wallace Settle's stories. She had to have been the best storyteller ever. I don't remember her time slot, but it was when all of the classes were together in the auditorium. That was always my favorite part of Bible School. She was also my Sunday School teacher when I was "a young married." She and Mrs. Claude Baker were two of my very favorite SS teachers.

 

Also, I grew up in Dixie Inn and remember going to a drive-in when I was little which I assume was the old Hands' drive-in, but I never heard of "Rest-a-While." Don't know how I missed that.

 

Charlotte Lewis Sutton, class of '63

 

 

E-Mail to MindenMemories@AOL.Com or snail mail to Sherry Gresham Gritzbaugh, 4507 Verone Street, Bellaire, Texas7740