Embedded Files
Early History of Lewisburg
Early History of Lewisburg
Research and documents compiled by Ron Barthet and published in his "TAMMANY FAMILY" Blog , teacheswe a great deal about the early history of our Lewisburg neighborhood. Well before Europeans came to the area , the Acolapissa Indians first lived along the lake shore, and later, several tribes living in the area of Lake Ponchartrain were called Mougoulacha.
The high ground along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain probably had been a favorite hunting ground for Indians who enjoyed lake's bounty of fresh fish, shrimp, and shellfish. In the early 1700s , explorers like Iberville and Bienville probably camped there under the huge oaks, as they first explored the coasts and interior waterways of the newly discovered Americas. In the spring of 1718 , after exploring the area, Bienville founded the city of New Orleans.
The area known as Lewisburg first began drawing the attention of newly-arrived settlers as they explored the area on the north shore between Bayou Castine and the Tchefuncte River in the 1770s. Many early visitors had sailed by the area in Lake Pontchartrain on their way to Bayou Manchac, Lake Maurepas, and the new communities of French Settlement and Bayou Vincent.
Historian Donald J. Sharp has researched early land grants in the area, and one shows a Lt. John Jones receiving a land grant on the Tchefuncte River in 1767. Others in the area of Lewisburg went to Amos Richardson and Zacharia Faircloth. Donald Sharp has also compared genealogy records with other historical accounts pertaining to the northlake area. More detailed information on the area of Lewisburg can be found on his history blog .
History of Lewisburg redacted.pdf A Resident's Lewisburg Oral History Project
A Resident's Lewisburg Oral History Project
In 2009, one of Lewisburg's residents for her high school senior project, gathered oral histories from some of Lewisburg's oldest residents. These interviewees participated in the project on the condition that they remain anonymous. Today, thanks to the efforts of this young writer and her subjects, we have a first hand account of life in Lewisburg at the turn of the last century.
Property along Bayou Chinchuba, part of which runs through Lewisburg before emptying into Lake Pontchartrain, was owned by Jonathan Ferris, then by William Weeks, by James Amour and Christian A. Dorbett, and then by Hugh Gordon in 1827. At that time the 980 acre tract was known as "Paradise." It was sold in 1829 to Judge Joshua Lewis, for whom the area would later be named.
Painting of Lewisburg Lakefront -1899
Painting of Lewisburg Lakefront -1899
Joshua Lewis - Lewisburg's Namesake
Joshua Lewis - Lewisburg's Namesake
Joshua Lewis (1772 - 1833) was a descendant of John Lewis who immigrated from Ireland in 1720. Joshua Lewis was the nephew of Meriwether Lewis, the famous American explorer who led the Lewis and Clark expedition across the continent in 1804 and 1805.
Joshua Lewis served under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, and married America Lawson, the daughter of General Robert and Sarah Merriwether Lewis. They first settled with their children near Lexington, KY, in 1798.
Joshua Lewis was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1799, 1803, and 1804. A year later, in 1805, Lewis and his family traveled to New Orleans via keelboat on the Mississippi River, on a mission from President Thomas Jefferson to help clear land title issues following the Louisiana Purchase, according to Wikipedia.
In 1806, Lewis was appointed judge of the Superior Court of the Territory of Orleans and, following Louisiana's becoming a state in 1812, served the First Judicial District Court. In 1815, he ran for governor, but lost the election to Jacques Villere.
What led Lewis to buy land on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain and make it his retirement home in 1829 is not known. But he may have wanted to escape the yellow fever raging in New Orleans, and sought out the healthier conditions on the north shore. Other acquaintances of his, such as Haden Edwards, had already made the move to the north shore in 1818. Also, Judge Lewis had tried several cases involving north shore property, and several lawyers had connections to the Tchefuncte River or Bayou Castine, according to Donald Sharp.
Incidentally, one of those lawyers, also from Kentucky, was Joseph H. Hawkins., a resident of Madisonville. Hawkins would enter into a business partnership in 1821 with Stephen F. Austin, who would later become known as "the father of Texas." Together they made arrangements for the first colony of American settlers in Texas. Hawkins died in 1823 from contracting yellow fever.
Judge Joshua Lewis' wife, America Lewis, died in 1830, and is probably buried in the Madisonville cemetery.
History of Judge Joshua Lewis.pdf
Lewisburg Named
Lewisburg Named
After Judge Joshua Lewis died in 1833, his heirs named his tract of land "Lewisburg" in his honor. They then had the land surveyed, divided into lots, and sold. (See map.)
The sons of Judge Lewis also invested in St. Tammany real estate. Dr. John Hampden Lewis and his brother John Lawson Lewis purchased 350 acres making up a two-part rice plantation in 1841. Hampden had completed medical school in France in 1839.
The Sawmill
The Sawmill
"With the great virgin pine forest virtually untouched, it is not surprising that the lumber companies began to move into St. Tammany Parish," Judge Ellis wrote in his history account. "Poitevent & Farve Lumber Company of Pearlington, Miss. acquired thousands of acres of untouched pine and cypress lands in the east-central part of the parish in the 1880's." One of the first sawmills of the area was located in Lewisburg.
The Poitevent & Favre sawmill in Lewisburg, located just off the north toll booth plaza of today's Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.
The old office building of the Poitevent-Favre Lumber Company, now a residence.
With the lumber company came the railroad, and Lewisburg had a depot nearby serving the Mandeville and Sulphur Springs Railroad. That rail line's name was changed in 1870 to the New Orleans and Northwestern Railroad. It was aiming to become the main line of transportation of goods between New Orleans and the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain and points beyond.
A 1935 topographical map shows the remnants of the sawmill pond and the railroad line that went to Lewisburg. The pond was used to soak timber to get it to the right moisture point for sawing into timber. It is still visible to the right as cars drive off the Causeway heading north.
"A pier was built out into the lake at Lewisburg," Judge Ellis relates, "and a right-of-way was cleared from Lewisburg to several miles past Sulphur Springs, just outside of Covington. Unfortunately, Mr. Ingram's (the owner) untimely death brought the operation to an end." A few years later a railroad bridge across Lake Pontchartrain was proposed, running from New Orleans to Lewisburg, with the track continuing past Covington, through Bogue Chitto, and all the way to Meridian, Miss.
The project was put on hold again, when a railroad line out of New Orleans crossed the Rigolets in east St. Tammany first, giving the Crescent City access to points north by passing through Slidell and Pearl River. The first train ever to use that New Orleans and Northwestern rail line passed through Pearl River (then known as Halloo) on October 15, 1883.
Mulberry Trees and Silk Industry in Lewisburg
Mulberry Trees and Silk Industry in Lewisburg
The silk industry gained a foothold in St. Tammany in the early 1880's. Silk worms preferred mulberry trees in which to grow, so several mulberry tree farms were created, including Mulberry Grove northeast of Covington. In addition to those companies in other parts of the parish, in 1883, Jules Herbelin constructed a silk factory in Lewisburg surrounded by 7,000 young mulberry trees and announced plans to plant 25,000 more.
A November 1885 issue of the St. Tammany Farmer newspaper referred to the United States Silk Filature and Lewisburg Colony, which had been transferred to Lewisburg with Herbelin named as manager. Herbelin was also a commercial agent of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
"The transfer (of the company to the northshore) took place because Lewisburg offers more facilities with regard to the purity of the air and the properties of the water," according to Ellis' book.
The newspaper article announcing the company's relocation went on to say: "The families who work at the Filature (at the silk factory in Lewisburg) should preferably have daughters and women of all ages. They will find there lodging and fuel, several arpents of land, and the necessary seeds, all furnished gratuitiously. They will have the privilege of raising, for their own account, poultry and cattle.
"The wages of the female spinners vary from forty to seventy-five cents per day, payable monthly. Several families are already at work.
"Lewisburg, which is situated on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, is in communication by steamer and telephone with New Orleans. A post office will soon be established there; also a school and a grocery store, which will sell goods to the employees of the Filature at city prices."
The Lewisburg School
The Lewisburg School
The 1885 Farmer article continues by saying: "Lewisburg is two miles from Mandeville, (a community) which possesses a College, churches, a doctor, drug store, several groceries, hotels, and all necessary comforts."
The silk produced in Lewisburg was featured in several exhibits from St. Tammany Parish on display at the World Industrial Exposition held in New Orleans in 1885. Those items included a "white pierced cocoons, and eggs made in Lewisberg, as well as samples of raw silk, from cocoons raised at Mr. Chas. Thiery's Mulberry Grove and Lewisburg.
Although expectations were high for the neighborhood's silk industry, the enterprise didn't flourish and, in fact, ended the following year,.
In the early 1900's, Lewisburg had its own landing for docking boats. Boats from New Orleans would first dock at Camellia Landing, then at St. Tammany Pier off the Mandeville lakefront, and then at Lewisburg Landing. The boat then might continue to Madisonville and Covington.
A 1919 Poem about Lewisburg
A 1919 Poem about Lewisburg
Lewisburg, in the first half of the 20th century, was a quiet, remote lakeshore village whose main business was a lumber mill. Eventually the mill closed , land was cleared and more residences were built.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse