A PIECE OF HISTORY
Louisiana home with cypress siding is getting new life
BBY 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.
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 that the astonished 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 Musical evolution continues for world
ä See LEDET, page 2G
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
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
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
ONE
The exterior of Brent Corbin’s Cypress restoration house
STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
Brent Corbin sweeps the front porch at his Cypress restoration house.
Continued from page 1G
that gave him the chance to learn about tools and spurred his curiosity about building things.
Corbin and his wife, Sarah, have renovated homes before in three states — North Carolina, Oklahoma and their current home in Baton Rouge. The couple wasn’t looking for a new project at the time, but the potential and character of the 1723 May St. house was appealing
“One thing led to another,” he said. “It was a cool house. It was in total disrepair, but the location was stunning, and I knew that it was going to be a really great house.”
The aluminum siding was in bad shape, and Corbin could tell there was some intriguing wood underneath, though he wasn’t sure of the wood’s condition
The first day the house was on the market, eight buyers were in a bidding war, including the Corbins. They made their offer, and they purchased the house for $275,000. The house was large enough for the family with four school-aged daughters — with six bedrooms, three baths and 3,101 square feet of living space.
“We were the suckers that ended up with it,” Brent Corbin said “When you’re in a bidding war like that, you just don’t have the time to do all the due diligence and as much on the inspection side as you would want.”
After removing the aluminum, he saw old cypress panels below Although they were not all in great shape, they could be repaired.
The renovation has lasted four years, and the Corbins are hoping that the house will be fin-
LEDET
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Orleans gives him butterflies. He plays at the halftime show of the Pelicans-Clippers basketball game, his first NBA gig.
“I still get a little nervous before I play,” said Ledet, 43. “The anticipation builds up.
“Then once I finally get there, I settle down. This is going to be pretty cool.”
Pelicans fans will get a sample of a self-taught, squeezebox wizard nicknamed “The Accordion Dragon.” Accordionists are almost on every corner in Acadiana, the south central and southwest corner of Louisiana that is the homeland of zydeco and Cajun music.
Ledet is one of the talented few to master the complex, pianoaccordion style of Grammy Hall of Famer and “King of Zydeco” Clifton Chenier In fact, Ledet has played at Chenier’s grave when particular tunes gave him the blues Those troubles soon faded in Chenier’s presence.
Ledet’s study and extraordinary talent have produced more than a dozen albums and tours to 15 countries.
Yet Ledet lives a reality for many musicians in this musiccrazed state. Although homegrown musicians entertain thousands and earn Grammy nominations and victories, few can afford to play music full time. Those that do must travel.
Ledet drives 18-wheelers for Amazon, a job that gives him steady pay, health benefits, retirement and a flexible schedule for music on the weekends.
Ledet is also among the road warriors whose music is accepted more on the road than at home. Ironically, Ledet decided five years ago that all his future songs would be written in KouriVini, the Creole language spoken by his family in St. Martin Parish. The all-Creole “Corey Ledet Zydeco” album that followed
renovations
ished by summer He says the process has taken longer than expected due to his family responsibilities, work obligations and his desire for perfectionism. He wants the details to be just right and reflect the time when it was built.
The Corbins have added some elements of style to the exterior like a front porch and a side addition to the house Another fun feature is in the study a secret door built into the bookshelves that passes through to the master bedroom right behind it
A house rich in history
The first owner listed on the East Baton Rouge Parish assessor’s report is Margaret T. Elam, who took ownership of the home Jan. 1, 1940. She was the widow of Joseph Barton Elam Jr , who was the founder of the Mansfield Progress newspaper which later merged with the Mansfield Enterprise, and a former mayor of Mansfield. Elam moved to the home in Baton Rouge so her children could be close to LSU. Alyce Dietz, an architect with the Hoffpauir Studio and LSU School of Architecture alumnus, recognized the pier and beam foundation and central hallway
Corey Ledet performs at the Clifton Chenier Centennial/Slim’s Y-Ki-Ki Restoration Fundraiser in Opelousas last year
earned a Grammy nomination in 2021.
“The style of music I play, it might not put me over too well at home, which is OK,” said Ledet.
“Now I enjoy getting out more, seeing different things, meeting new people.
“This music has taken me to Switzerland, Denmark, Germany the Netherlands, Paris and two Grammy nominations. I’ll take it.”
His evolution continues With
“Black Magic,” an all-black, customized accordion imported from Italy, Ledet is working on an all blues album and holding auditions for band members skilled in the genre.
Ledet is also adding jazz, reggae, rock and more to his accordion gumbo. He’s expecting more of the world to eat it up.
“If you look up blues festivals, you won’t be able to count them.
That’s how many blues festivals there are worldwide.
“It’s the same formula that Clifton (Chenier) and Buckwheat (Zydeco) did. You can play the blues on a piano accordion.
“Blues is like Jell-O. There’s always room for it.”
Herman Fuselier is executive director of the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. A longtime journalist covering Louisiana music and culture, he lives in Opelousas. His “Zydeco Stomp” show
at noon Saturdays on
throughout the main floor, called a dog trot corridor, as a traditional way Louisiana builders designed homes to keep them cool before central air
“You could open the front and the back doors, and it would create sort of a breezeway, pull air through the house, help ventilate it,” said Deitz, “and then having it raised off the ground allowed air to circulate underneath it as well, to keep it cool.”
The house was built in the late
CURIOUS
Continued from page 1G
Her research has given her vast knowledge of current and lost communities throughout the parish, and she’d been receiving emails about the community that grew around the Anchorage railroad stop.
But she and husband, David, did more than pinpoint the train stop — they took a break from their cemetery search on a Saturday morning and led the way to the point where the train line’s east met west.
Remnants of the train track are still embedded in the levee along La. 415, commonly known as River Road.
The Martins drove the few miles from their Port Allen home and stopped alongside the levee, only a few yards from a state historical marker commemorating the former Sunrise community
The real thing
No such marker has been designated for Anchorage, but what’s there is the real thing. Wooden pilings stand on either side of the last vestiges of a track at the top of the levee. Below more pilings surround crumbling wooden reinforcements that supported the track.
“This was where teenagers used to come and party when I was in high school,” David Martin said.
“Did you ever come here?” Debbie Martin asks. Her husband smiles. Maybe a time or two.
East meets west
Between 1906 and 1947, this was the spot where a steam-powered rail ferry transported trains to the west. According to the West Baton Rouge Parish Historical Association’s archives, the railroad ferry George H Walker was the line’s final and best known ferry, operating between 1923 and 1947.
Therefore, the Southern Pacific Railroad’s line used the George
1930s, coinciding with the construction of the University Lakes.
The University Lakes project began in 1933 and was finished in 1938 by 900 workers of the Works Progress Administration, a part of Roosevelt’s New Deal. The project resulted in over a million board feet of cypress lumber cut from the cypress trees of the Old Perkins Swamp.
The cypress used for building the Corbins’ home could have been sourced from the former
Old Perkins Swamp, or maybe from another mill. Regardless, the builders benefited from the end of the cypress boom, and “the house is a preservation piece that shows cypress was still a soughtafter material despite diminishing supplies,” said Gautreaux
“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,” said Gautreaux.
The Corbin family has lived in the St. George area since they moved to Baton Rouge. With four girls in multiple East Baton Rouge public schools elementary, middle and high school — the Corbins are not eager to relocate and change their lifestyle, but the passion project could convince them once it’s finished in early June.
“It’s going to be a beautiful house,” said Corbin. “I have already envisioned the landscaping and curb appeal, and the cypress siding is ready to go for another 100 years.”
Email Joy Holden at joy holden@theadvocate.com.
H. Walker for 11 years between 1923 and the abandonment of its southwest Louisiana railway in 1934.
Southern Pacific wasn’t the only railway serviced by the ferry system. It was put out of business a few years after the Kansas City Railroad line opened in 1945. The Kansas City Railroad line still runs through the center of Baton Rouge’s Huey P. Long Bridge. Traveling diagonally
As for the train ferry’s route, trains on the east side would pull up in the Kansas City Southern railroad depot, which now houses the Louisiana Art & Science Museum at 100 S. River Road downtown.
The Waterways Journal, in a 2019 article, states that the landing was “near the Louisiana State Capitol,” which makes sense, since Louisiana’s Old State Capitol across from the station was operating as the seat of state government at the time.
“The east bank landing was near the Louisiana State Capitol building, and the west bank landing was just a bit farther upriver at Anchorage, making for an angled crossing distance of about a mile and a quarter,” the Waterways Journal article states.
The ferry was operated by Gulf Coast Lines and the Missouri Pacific Railroad with the Willard V. King ferry preceding the George H. Walker at the crossing.
The earlier ferry was a twotrack transfer boat with a capacity of 16 freight cars or eight passenger cars.
Biggest steel-hull boat
“In May 1922, the railroad contracted with the Dravo company of Pittsburgh to design and build a replacement, a steel-hulled boat large enough to carry entire passenger trains,” the Waterways Journal states. “Dravo came up with a design for a 340-foot sidewheeler with three train tracks. The price tag was $250,000, the equivalent of about $3.5 million today.” The resulting ferry was, of
course, the George H. Walker, which was the largest steel-hull boat on the Mississippi River at the time.
“The finished boat had a length overall of 346 feet and a hull depth of 11 feet,” the Waterways Journal states. “The beam was 56 feet, but with the sponsons and paddlewheels, the boat’s width was about 91 feet over the guards. The hull was divided into 26 airtight and two oil-tight compartments. ”
The boat was powered by four 72-by-18-inch Bronson-type boilers, two on each side.
“The boilers were adapted for oil but could be fired by coal if necessary,” the Waterways Journal states.
Not a pretty boat
The Waterways Journal points out that the George H. Walker wasn’t exactly a pretty boat.
“As steamboats go, the Walker was not going to win any beauty contests,” the article states. “It was basically a big flat deck with an unadorned, short, squat block-shaped deckhouse on each side, paddlewheel housings looming a little higher, and a simple structural bridge straddling the three tracks to hold the pilothouse above it all.”
But that didn’t matter as long as the ferry did its job. And it did just that for quite a while, enabling transportation from Baton Rouge to Anchorage, where, according to the West Baton Rouge Historical Society, also was home to a small train depot.
Now the site is marked only by the ruin of a trestle unnoticed by most drivers along the River Road. But not Debbie and David Martin.
They know its history and location, and they’re happy to keep its story alive.
Do you have a question about something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phone number and the city where you live.
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KRVS 88.7 FM.
STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
Brent Corbin stands in front of his Cypress restoration house on Feb. 27. The original cypress siding is being preserved, seen behind Corbin, while major
are made to the historic house.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Original cypress siding started to show after Corbin removed the aluminum siding
PROVIDED PHOTO
Custom-made cypress doors for the home on May Street
FILE PHOTO BY ROBIN MAY
Gumbo Z’Herbes/Green Gumbo
Recipe is by Catherine S. Comeaux, adapted from a recipe by Earthshare Gardens; Serves 8-12
5-8 bunches different types of greens (e.g collard, mustard, turnip greens, spinach, shallots, beet greens, parsley celery leaves, watercress or dandelion greens)
1 3 cup cold water
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, pressed 1/2 pound baked ham or tasso, chopped
1/2 pound andouille sausage or your favorite smoked sausage, chopped
2 quarts
2-3
Savoie’s “light” roux salt and pepper to taste
1. Thoroughly wash the greens. Remove tough stems and discolored leaves. Place washed greens in colander and rinse under cold water
2. Shake colander and place damp greens in large, heavy pot, add 1⁄3 cup cold water and heat to high. When water at bottom begins to boil, cover the pot and reduce heat to medium. Cook 12 minutes until just tender
3. Remove greens from pot by dumping into colander placed in large bowl to catch the green liquid. Keep the liquid.
4. Chop cooked greens and set aside.
5. In a large 7- to 8-quart pot, brown the chopped ham/ tasso and the sausage. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
6. Brown your onion and garlic in the fat released
while browning the meat.
7. Add the browned meat back to the pot along with the green liquid. Mix well.
8. Add the chopped cooked greens and seasonings.
9. Keeping heat low gradually add 2 quarts water or broth. Raise the heat to high and bring gumbo to a boil, then lower heat to low
10. Dip a measuring cup in the pot and pull out a cup or so of the liquid, whisk the roux in this hot liquid and then dump it all back in the pot. Or add the roux directly to pot — it will eventually dissolve.
11. Simmer on low for 11/4 hours. Taste after about a half hour of simmering, then add salt and pepper as you like it.
12. Serve over white, longgrain rice with cornbread. Recipe tips:
1. If you choose to go meatless, use a good, hearty vegetable broth and consider adding a few dashes of liquid aminos for boosting the umami. Take a few extra minutes to caramelize the onions.
2. Savoie’s jarred roux is “light” in color, not fat content.
3. To use a homemade roux, after Step 5, in the same large pot, heat 1/2 cup vegetable oil over high heat and gradually stir in 2⁄3 cup flour Over low heat, continuously stir flour and oil until it turns peanut butter brown, then quickly stir in onions and garlic and continue with Step 7-12, omitting Step 10.
4. Possible additions: ham bone or chicken added before the long simmer Crack eggs into the boiling gumbo 15 minutes before serving.
“Shell's RootsRun Deep in St.Charles Parish. To us,beingagood neighbor means morethan safely clocking in and out;itmeans actively supporting theplacesand communitiesthathavebeen thefoundation of our business fornearly acentury.” TAMMYLITTLE | General Manager,ShellNorco
In honor of ShellNorco's 95thanniversary,ninety-fiveemployees partnered with thePontchartrain Conservancytoplant1,000 treesat Wetland Watchers Park in St.CharlesParish.
Thesetrees will help fortifythe Lake Pontchartrain shoreline,createnew wildlife habitat, and supportlocalair quality.Atthe event,Shell NorcoGeneral Manager Tammy Little announced a$175,000 donation to theSt. Charles Parish Parksand Recreation Department to helprebuild thepark’spier,which wasdamaged in Hurricane Ida.
PHOTO BY CATHERINE S COMEAUX
Gumbo z’Herbes
