Oil Museum Provides Gusher of Energy History
Published May 18, 2009
The significance and heritage of energy production in Northwest Louisiana is captured at the Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum in Oil City.
Exhibits include a variety of early oil-field equipment, a wooden flow-line pipe, an electric motor patented in 1899, a steam-driven fluid pump an oil derrick and replica oil-boom buildings.
The museum preserves 1911’s Ferry No. 1 well, one of the world’s first over-water discovery wells. The Caddo Indian Room features relics and arrowheads dating back 10,000 years. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Lets Go Bowl-ing
The Independence Bowl trace its roots back to 1975 when the board of directors of the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Foundation conceived the idea of bringing a postseason football game to Northwest Louisiana.
Today, the game between schools from the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 annually attracts upward of 30,000 visitors to the area, generating an economic impact of some $20 million for the community. Shreveport has completed a $32 million renovation of Independence Stadium, and the Independence Bowl Foundation stepped up and funded a state-of-the-art scoreboard and DiamondVision screen. For more, go to www.independencebowl.org.
War and Remembrance
A key battle in the Civil War took place in DeSoto County in April 1864 when Confederate forces were able to turn back the Union Army, stopping the Union from gaining complete control of Louisiana and the progression of the war into Texas.
Through living-history events, exhibits, battle reenactments and interpretive programs, the Mansfield State Historic Site allows visitors to travel back to the unrest of the Civil War years and learn more about a key clash that many believe prolonged the war. Go to www.mansfieldbattlefield.org for more.
By Golly, It’s About the Tamale
The Zwolle Tamale Fiesta in Sabine County is a celebration of the area’s Spanish and Native American heritage. The three-day event is held in Zwolle each year the second weekend in October.
The event is jam packed with all things tamale – from tamale-making demonstrations to a tamale-eating contest to a tamale-judging event. The fiesta also features pageants, Spanish costume contests, rides and food booths, a very popular Fiesta Mud Bog Race for trucks, and more than 20,000 dozen tamales for sale. The 2009 event is set for Oct. 8-10. Go to www.zwollela.net/tamale.asp for more.
From Native American to Oil Boom
The life and culture of Claiborne Parish and Northwest Louisiana from Pre-Columbian times to the present day is on display at the Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum in Homer, La.
Exhibits cover a wide swath, from Native American culture, Pioneer life, African-American history and daily life in Claiborne Parish to the agriculture, lumber, and oil industries, including the 1920s oil boom.
The museum is named in honor of Herbert Smith Ford, whose collection of eclectic objects and artifacts from Claiborne Parish were donated to the town of Homer when he died in 1960. Go to www.claiborneone.org/ford for more information.
Where Outlaws Met Their Fate
Bonnie and Clyde’s outlaw days came to an end in Northwest Louisiana.
The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum occupies the exact historical location in Gibsland, La., of Ma Canfield’s Cafe where Bonnie and Clyde dined for the last time in 1934 before they met their bloody fate in a deadly ambush in Arcadia. Featured exhibits include seized weapons from Bonnie and Clyde’s death car, film footage taken by law enforcement following the ambush and the authentic movie car from the 1967 film about the duo starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. For more information, go to www.bonnieandclydemuseum.com.
Military Lesson
The Louisiana Military Museum in Ruston in Lincoln Parish chronicles 150 years of military history through the lives of local heroes and unknown enemies.
The museum contains a collection of exhibits chronicling conflicts from the Civil War through Desert Storm and today’s war on terror. The museum features an expansive weapons collection, from swords and muskets to a heavy machine gun. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Art Smart
Now in its 15th year, Cultural Crossroads in Webster Parish has grown from a small organization to a thriving agency that promotes the arts.
Two of its signature events are the annual Spring Arts Festival and the biannual Moon Over Minden, a month-long series of events held in October and billed as a “crazy experiment in creativity and entertainment” that includes a haunted hayride, a haunted garden tour and a Monster Ball.
Both events are held at The Farm, a four-acre mixture of art and agriculture that draws artists, art enthusiasts, gardeners and children. Go to www.artsinminden.com for more.
Where the Stars Live On
What do former NBA all-star Karl Malone, football standout Terry Bradshaw and baseball legend Lou Brock have in common? They are among the greats enshrined in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches.
The hall honors more than 250 men and women athletes with Louisiana ties. Each year, an expert panel of Louisiana Sports Writers Association members from around the state considers more than 120 nominees.
Honorees in 2008 were recognized at a three-day event that included an induction dinner and golf tournament. Plans are in the works for a permanent $18.3 million Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Museum in downtown Natchitoches. For more, go to www.lasportshall.com.
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