Forgotten Roads of Central by Woody Jenkins, editor, Central City News

Anyone who drove up Greenwell Springs Road in the 1950’s or 1960’s will remember the beauty of that ancient road — a quiet, narrow country lane covered with a canopy of live oaks and other trees.  In those days, it would be easy to visualize the cattle drives, stage coaches, and buckboard wagons that travelled it from the mid-1850’s to the 1920’s.

Today, Greenwell Springs Road has been widened in many places and many of the trees have been cut down. Businesses line parts of the road, and fast cars and gravel trucks rush across Central to get to Baton Rouge or Livingston Parish.

Early maps of Baton Rouge 

show North Street beginning at the Mississippi River and heading east. Somewhere around Roselawn Cemetery, the street name on maps changed to Greenwell Springs Road. 

Greenwell Springs Road then turned left on what is now North Foster Drive.  It headed north and then turned right at the intersection of what is now North Foster at Gus Young.  As now, Greenwell Springs Road then headed northeast toward the community of Greenwell Springs, continued up the west side of the Amite River, then crossed into St. Helena Parish, eventually ending at Greensburg.

Greenwell Springs Road is Louisiana Hwy. 37, and true to its historical origins, the La. Hwy. 37 marker is found on North Foster, five blocks south of the first Greenwell Springs Road street sign.

One of the most historically significant  places on Greenwell Springs Road is where the road crosses the Comite River as it enters the City of Central.

Many things happened at that crossing.  Three of the most important were:

•It was the last stop on the Camino Real that began in Mexico City and ended at the Comite. As late as 1810, there was a stagecoach stop there in what was then Spanish West Florida

•Confederate soldiers marching to the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1862 made camp there before their final thrust into Baton Rouge. The bloody battle which left 400 dead ended with no real winner.

•It was the last stop for Grierson’s Raiders, the Yankee calvary force of 1,000 riders who decimated Confederate property and supplies in a swath from Tennessee down through Mississippi and to the Comite where Col. Grierson ended the raid.  John Wayne played Grierson in the movie Horse Soldiers, also starring William Holden.

The crossing of the Comite was a problem for early settlers in what is now Central. The river was a shallow creek rather easily crossed on horseback for much of the year.  However, when heavy rains came, the Comite changed into a roaring torrent of water.  Bridges were built from time to time but they were easily washed away.  Many lives were lost when trying to cross the Comite during bad weather.

Russell Starns, the incorporator of the City of Central, resides on the east bank of the Comite River as Greenwell Springs Road enters the city.  Mr. Starns said the Corps  of Engineers redirected the Comite River in 1959.

In turn, the course of Greenwell Springs Road was altered between the Comite River and St. Alphonsus to eliminate some of the curves, he said. 

Old Greenwell Springs Road

Southern Section

The result was to leave about 1,000 feet of Greenwell Springs Road disconnected from the main highway.  It became a new road, called Old Greenwell Springs Road.  It begins at Frenchtown Road and dead ends at a lake on Russell Starns’ property.  The lake is a remnant of the old bed of the Comite River.

That action sealed the fate of Old Greenwell Springs Road. In a few short years, it  went from a busy commercial artery to a quiet country road.  While 21,651 cars a day use Greenwell Springs Road to cross the Comite River, only a handful of cars use Old Greenwell Springs Road a few hundred feet away.

Only seven homes front on Old Greenwell Springs Road near the Comite River.

Old Greenwell Springs Road

Northern Section

However, there is another “Old Greenwell Springs Road” — in the northeast corner of the City of Central.  This is near Indian Mound, about 10 miles up Greenwell Springs Road from where it crosses the Comite.

As you head north on Greenwell Springs Road a few thousand feet passed Denham Road, you can see Old Greenwell Springs Road veering off to the right. Here you see what Greenwell Springs Road looked like during most of the 20th century — a beautiful two-lane country road with its canopy of live oaks overhead.

Along the way, you may be able to make out the remnants on an Indian Mound off to your left — the only visible reminder of the Indians who lived in this area for hundreds of years.

To the right, you will note a new street, Kipling Cove Street, and several beautiful new homes.  The contrast between the quiet old road and the modern homes is striking.

After a few thousand feet, Old Greenwell Springs Road curves to the left and rejoins the new Greenwell Springs Road.

Old Wax Road

If you were at the Wal-Mart in Central and wanted to go to Denham Springs, you would head east on Wax Road and go past Central High School on the right and then DEMCO.  You’d keep going straight, cross Greenwell Springs Road and then go right across the new Magnolia Road Bridge.  

However, did you notice something? Right after you passed DEMCO, the name of the road changed.  You didn’t notice? Actually, nothing told you that you were on a different road.

So let’s go back to DEMCO. As soon as you pass DEMCO, you’ll see a road angling off to the left.  That’s Old Wax Road, the former route of Wax Road.  It’s a bit deceiving, because Wax Road and Old Wax Road are together a straight shot from Wal-Mart to the Amite River.  Magnolia Bridge Road actually veers south in order to connect to the new bridge.

Old Wax is different from the other “Forgotten Roads of Central.” While it is hidden away from the main highway, it remains busy and active.  A major subdivision, Northwoods, is off Old Wax, as is a relatively new and quite beautiful development, Gates at Burlington.

Other than those two developments, there are 25 homes on Old Wax Road between Magnolia Bridge Road and Greenwell Springs Road.  

Like all of the other “Forgotten Roads of Central,” Old Wax Road has no commercial development.

South Blackwater Road

Central is a city between two rivers — the Comite River on the west and the Amite River on the east.  In the late 1800’s, people in what is now Central sent their children to small private schools spread over a large area. The people wanted a high school for their children but couldn’t agree on a place.

Finally, it was agreed to locate the school on the southeast corner of Hooper and Sullivan roads. This was the site of Central High School, which was named “Central” because it was centrally located among the various one-room schoolhouses in the area.

Today, if you were to go to the intersection of Hooper and Sullivan roads, the old schoolhouse is gone.  The only thing you might see is Wildcat Stadium.  The future of this historic site has yet to be determined by the Central Community School Board, which owns the property.

If we head west on Hooper, we would eventually get to the Comite River and leave the city.  The last road before the Comite is Blackwater Road. When people think about Blackwater Road, they think of a road that begins at Hooper and heads north.   

However, if you’re on Hooper facing west, turn to your left and you will notice that Blackwater actually extends across Hooper and continues south.  This road is called South Blackwater Road.  Originally, it connected to a bridge across the Comite which no longer exists.

South Blackwater travels south from Hooper and then turns west.  It dead ends just before the Comite River. Along the way, there are some beautiful homes in a gorgeous setting. Altogether, there are 15 homes on South Blackwater.  Near the end of the road, there is a sewage processing station that is attractively designed to hide its true purpose.  

South Blackwater is less than a mile long. Although you are only a few hundred feet from busy Hooper Road, you are definitely on a quiet country lane, well insulated from the hustle and bustle.

Old Comite Drive

If you turn onto Blackwater Road from Hooper and head north, you will pass three churches — Life Tabernacle on the right, Cornerstone Fellowship on the left, and Blackwater Methodist Church on the right. About two miles north of Hooper, the road divides.  You could head right to stay on Blackwater or veer left to enter Comite Drive and cross the beautiful new Comite Drive Bridge.

But instead of doing that, pass Carey Road on the right and immediately turn left onto Old Comite Road.  It is the road that was used for decades to get to the old Comite Bridge. That bridge was torn down after the new one was built.

Old Comite Road is short and has only two houses.  However, it is interesting because it includes the remnants of a once popular party venue and a long forgotten carnival show.

As you enter Old Comite Road, look to your left and see a curved driveway where customers used to arrive for snowballs and birthday parties.  A German shepherd may greet you.

Ellis H. Hughes was in the carnival business for more than 50 years.  He ran carnivals all over South Louisiana and often provided them at St. Alphonsus, St. Pius, and St. Gerard.  Ellis H. Hughes Shows seemed to be everywhere.

An article in the Advocate from 1960 showed Mr. Hughes with his bears pulling a wagon in the Christmas Parade on Third Street

Mr. Hughes acquired 25 acres  near the Comite River in 1974 and planned to develop an amusement park on the site. But time and age got the best of him. The carnival shows ended in 1989, and the amusement park was never built.

Mr. Hughes’ daughter Connie opened a snowball stand and party center in about 2000 and operated the business for five years. They offered ice cream, soft drinks, nachos and a space walk.  Unfortunately, Connie was robbed at gunpoint and injured by the robber. That took the joy out of it and eventually she closed.

Connie enjoyed the carnival business with her dad, especially traveling.

After the new Comite Road and bridge came in, there was no traffic in front of the store, and it didn’t have the business potential that it once did.

Today, Connie Hughes lives on the property, and the snowball stand and party room sit almost unchanged — on Old Comite Road.  

A single carnival ride sits in the yard, much as it has for more than 30 years, a memory of happy days in the carnival business, laughing children, and days that live in our memories.

The Forgotten Roads of Central allow us to turn a corner and step back in time for at least a few moments.

Woody Jenkins has been a journalist for 57 years. He has been honored for his feature writing by the National Newspaper Association and the La. Press Association.