(bright music) - [Announcer] The following is a stereo presentation of WYES TV New Orleans.

- [Announcer 2] Jefferson Parish Stories is made possible by a grant from the Parish of Jefferson, celebrating 175 years.

And by Lakeside Shopping Center, a proud member of the Jefferson Parish community for over 40 years, featuring more than 120 stores, specialty shops, and restaurants.

This program was also made possible by the WYES Producers Circle, a group of generous contributors dedicated to the support of Channel 12's local productions.

- [Reporter] It is odd, but true, that the fastest growing county in the United States is not a county at all, but a Louisiana parish.

A lush green, productive, enchanted land bounded on the north by historic Lake Ponchartrain, on the east by the city of New Orleans, and on the west by Saint Charles Parish, and on the south by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

This is Jefferson Parish.

The land of bayous, the home of Baratarians and buccaneers who defended the Mississippi valley against the British at Chalmette.

The land of men who hunted and fished, raised cattle, horses, food, and cane.

And developed the Mississippi Valley into an integral and important part of our nation.

(bright music) - [Narrator] For all the talk of Baratarians and buccaneers, for most of its existence people have thought of Jefferson Parish as a country cousin, a place to get out of the city.

New Orleans version of the classic American suburb.

But in reality, it's a parish with its own personality and history.

It covers over 60 miles from Lake Ponchartrain to the Gulf of Mexico.

And running through it is the Mississippi River, separating the Parish into the East Bank and the West Bank.

Locals often feel that when you venture across to the other side of the river, you're travelin' into new territory.

- I didn't have any experiences in traveling to the West Bank until I was in high school.

I went to East Jefferson High School and the big rivalry was between East Jefferson High School and West Jefferson High School.

And those were fierce rivalries, they would burn the letters in the fields of each other and if you had to venture forth to the West Bank, as an East Banker, we would scrape off the East Jefferson decals off the back of the cars.

You didn't wanna be identified as East Jefferson walking back and forth because there was likely to be a ruckus or a fight.

- To go to the East Bank was quite a trek.

Had to go all the way down Fourth Street, catch the Huey P. Long Bridge, get to Harahan and what is now River Ridge, that area.

It was quite a task.

If you wanted to go to the East Bank, you really had to take some time out and go there.

- [Narrator] Before the bridges were built, getting across the river was an adventure.

- The only way to get across the river was on a ferry boat.

For example, you would take a train trip, say to California, which would take you out west, the train would stop at the river, the cars would be loaded on barges, take it across the river, put back on the tracks, and continue on their way.

That was how you got across the river.

- They had just a small ferry and it only ran as long as it was daylight.

It really did not run at night, but there was an elderly man, his name was Charlie, Mister Charlie, he had a regular motorboat, just a plain little motorboat with a motor in it, and he would take you across the river after the ferry stopped running.

And if he was on the other side of the river, you stand on the levy and call Mister Charlie.

And after a while, you hear the motor comin'.

He'd come over and pick you up and take you across that Mighty Mississippi in a little motorboat.

A family with four children and my mother and father would get in that little thing and ride across that river.

Today I even just look at the river and I walk away.

(laughs) - [Narrator] That all changed in 1935 with the new Huey P. Long Bridge, the first to link the East and West Banks.

Named to honor one of Louisiana's most colorful governors, it brought travelin' over the river to new heights.

It's central pier is equal to that of a 36 story building.

- I rode across the Huey Long Bridge the day it opened in 1935, in the rumble seat.

The rumble seat of an automobile.

No seatbelts, you just rode back there and the wind got in ya, it was a wonderful feeling, but boy was that dangerous.

- [Narrator] The nearly five mile long bridge made gettin' across a whole lot easier.

Although, lookin' back, it's design left a lot to be desired.

- I remember the first time I drove over the Huey P. Long Bridge.

Coach Z. was my Driver Ed teacher.

Of course, one of the things, you have to go somewhere to drive and I guess he just felt like, let's give the kid a chance.

Let's go across the Huey P. Long Bridge.

He had some business to do over there, and it'd be a two for one type of thing.

So, as I was driving, of course my white knuckles on the steering wheel was quite evident, and he tried to explain somethin' to me, that as we were ascending the bridge, he says, now look, the curb is gonna come in and you gotta be aware of it.

And I couldn't understand what he was talking about.

- The thing about it, it was always so narrow, but when we first went over, we didn't realize it, but now it is frightening, it's so narrow.

- The bridge shakes, oh dear, like it has a heart trouble of something, it's just is throbbing, but I guess that's all part of it, you know.

- [Narrator] One long-time West Banker remembers travelin' on the Huey P before it was even finished.

- I used to take my car down to Muller's Garage in Westwego and one day Mister Muller said, Millie, how would you like to take a ride up on the bridge?

I said, well, how can we ride the bridge, it's not even finished?

He said, oh yeah, we can ride the bridge.

So we went up on the bridge, and we got to where the very end, over the middle of the river, that's about as far as the bridge went, and he had nerve enough to turn the car around up on the top of that bridge.

Well, it didn't bother me at all then, but I look at it now and I say, how stupid can you be?

- [Narrator] In the 50s, federal highway money made it even easier to move around the Parish.

The Greater New Orleans Bridge and the West Bank Expressway provided the West Bank a direct link to New Orleans, and an opportunity for development.

- I remember sitting in my grandfather's yard peelin' pecans, looking up and seeing the construction of the Greater New Orleans Bridge.

That's something that's etched in my memory.

So the only contact we had with the outside world by transportation was the Gretna Ferry, or the Algiers Ferry, so we were very much unto ourselves.

- And of course, all the original streets were gravel.

Long before they put the paving in, but there was nothing where the Expressway is now was woods.

There was nothing in there at all.

- [Narrator] That all changed with the construction.

To make way for the Expressway, homeowners were forced to relocate.

The same story was playin' out on the East Bank, where Interstate 10 was being constructed.

- [Aaron] It cut right through the Parish, and so you were just kinda drawn to what was happenin' there, no matter where you went you would always see that construction goin' on.

It made it incredibly more convenient to get in and out of New Orleans, and of course, Jefferson Parish at that time was still mostly a commuter parish where people were going into New Orleans to work and goin' to New Orleans for their leisure.

So getting in and out of New Orleans conveniently was very important and the fact that you could drive on a concrete road, that wide, without a traffic light, you know, that was incredible.

- [Narrator] There was one advantage to havin' a car.

Wide open spaces with wide screens meant the drive-in movies were the place to see and be seen.

But sometimes your group of friend had to consider the cost.

- I believe it used to cost a dollar a carload to get in.

So you could have as many people as you can fit inside the car.

They never looked inside the trunk.

You would have as many or more inside the trunk then you had inside your car.

- I made sure that on those nights I was driving 'cause I didn't want to crammed in the trunk, but yeah, somebody's gonna get crammed in the trunk.

I remember one night, we were goin' to Airline Drive-In and we had at least three people packed in that trunk.

And of course, we had no air conditioning, it was hot and they're in the trunk and, bad luck, we hit a train, 'cause the trains would cut right across the entrance to the Airline Drive-In.

And so we're sitting there, and the train's goin' by, and it was a long freight train, and these people were beatin' on the trunk, and they wanna get out and they wanna get out.

- I remember hiding in the trunk to get in free.

But it was an affair, if you went with your parents, you put the blanket out in front of the car, and you had popcorn and your mother fixed sandwiches and we had a little cooler and stuff like that.

It was an event.

- [Narrator] But you didn't always go with your mom and them.

It didn't matter if you were goin' to the Airline the Westgate, or the Do Drive-In, more than likely, if you had a date, you had somethin' other than movies on your mind.

- The Do Drive-In, sure, sure.

The passion pit of Jefferson Parish.

Once I had wheels, once I was driving, that was it, that was a staple.

That was automatic, a date, you didn't have to say where you were goin', it was automatically implied, you were going to the Do Drive-In.

I couldn't tell you the name of a single movie that played at the Do Drive-In.

What I could tell you was that the movie started when the sun went down.

Everybody you knew and anybody who was anybody drove through the Do Drive-In.

They would just cruise on by, race their motors, blow their horns, their fancy horns, stop, talk, if they could see you.

And it was just a big party, big, big party.

- [Reporter] Regard, if you will, the fact that 90% of our Jefferson Parish residents are homeowners, a truly impressive figure.

They enjoy good homes at moderate costs.

Reasonably priced land for the development of new residential areas and utilities, which are keeping abreast of the most inspiring growth recorded within the history of our boarders.

Yes, we are growing.

- [Narrator] Once the highway opened up Jefferson Parish, families lookin' for a new lifestyle followed.

In the post-World War II era, people flocked to the area and set off a period of extensive growth and development.

The population count exploded from 50,000 in 1940 to 208,000 in 1960.

- If people sense that their environment is getting too urban for them, they seek other places where they could get a spacious backyard and plant trees in the backyard.

It's just a look and a feel and a quality of life that they want that the urban setting can't give them, so they seek a more rural setting, or at least a more suburban setting.

And that was the opportunity that Jefferson Parish offered people in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

- [Narrator] Returning World War II soldiers found that the GI Bill didn't cover renovation of old houses, but it did provide for the construction of new ones.

Since there were very few empty lots in the city, the suburbs were a logical place to go.

- The GI Bill afforded loans at a reasonable rate.

And my dad was a World War II vet, and with all of the vets returning after World War II and families growing, of course, with the baby boom, families wanted to spread out.

They wanted the space, which is really just very much part of the American culture, is to go out there and explore and get more room.

Get more space.

And homes are being built and offered at a pretty reasonable price.

At that time, my folks bought our house in the area of 10 to 12 thousand dollars, that's what those homes were going for.

- The price of homes was a whole lot cheaper, and it seemed to us that it was really an area that was gonna develop and build up tremendously.

I paid $30,300 for my home in 1967.

$30,300 and it's now worth well over $100,000.

So it was a good investment from the standpoint of money and growth.

- What I like about Metairie is that it was New Orleans, but it was New Orleans once removed because you had to get someplace where a family could run and be able to be under one roof and have a little space.

'Cause without a space you can't really deal.

I think that's what it did, it gave the space.

- [Narrator] Even as the Parish grew, many places in Jefferson still had a small town feel.

Not that long ago, Jefferson Parish was more country than concrete.

- It was wonderful, of course, I was reared in a little town in Mississippi and it was wonderful for me because it was more like a little town.

When I first moved the Metairie, on 30 Metairie Heights, it wasn't paved, it was just a mud street.

I had to pay $650 for my lot part to be paved and lotta times, when I pass that house now, I say, well I own that.

I own that street in front of it.

(laughs) - [Narrator] In the 40s and 50s new subdivisions were established, particularly in East Jefferson.

Responding to the baby boom and encouraged by post war optimism, many locals moved to suburban Jefferson Parish.

For one of those Baby Boomers, the sounds and smells of that time are unmistakable.

- Whenever I smell tar, I think of 1950s Jefferson Parish and where I grew up because that's what I smelled all the time.

The houses were being built and there was those tar machines all over the place.

(lawn mower running) The sounds of my neighborhood.

In the morning on Saturdays all the men would be out mowing those lawns, everybody had a pretty good sized lawn to mow and the grass would get pretty high, so I remember that on Saturday mornings.

I remember the smell of the grass being cut.

And also the screams of neighbors who found a snake.

There was always a snake to be found in the high grass.

I mean, we were there in the swamp really, reclaimed swamp.

- [Narrator] Livin' on land that was mostly reclaimed swamp also meant sharin' space with some of the first inhabitants.

The blood sucking ones.

- Plenty, plenty mosquitoes in Metairie for a long time-- - For a long time and they would go around gassin' them with those machines-- - [Myrtis] After the war, they had those little trucks that went around and sprayed and we haven't had mosquitoes since.

- Well, they still spray.

They have to for the mosquitoes.

Anytime there's a place with standing water and there's plenty of standing water, however, in California they say, you know half a percent of malathion will kill you.

Well, honey, they were gassin' those blocks with, I'm tellin' you, it musta been 100% and the little boys would hang onto the back of the thing with their bikes and skates and stuff, and they would follow that machine, 'cause it would go slow enough that they would pull them.

I still know a lotta those boys and they didn't die.

But the mosquitoes did.

- [Narrator] Besides mosquitoes, nature often reminded the people of Jefferson Parish who was boss.

Livin' below sea level, no one could take for granted, the power of water.

- One of my favorite memories is, when it would, we would have storms where it would flood.

It flooded, it looked like Venice, but it would go down quickly.

We had that camp, see, so in the winter they'd bring the pirogues and stuff back to our house, with a big garage and they would seal the bottoms again and all that stuff.

When it would flood, my brother, who was nine years older than me, would put me in the pirogue and he would ride me around the neighborhood.

(laughs) And my mother would say, don't let her touch that polio water.

'Cause people were worried about water in those days any kinda standing water, 'cause polio was a big deal.

You'll be in an iron lung and then show you those people with iron lungs and (gasps) oh, the thought of it.

So I was all dressed up and I'd have a little umbrella and he would float me around the neighborhood.

- [Narrator] As Jefferson's East Bank grew, an early indicator of the next area to boom was the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

It linked Metairie to Mandeville.

- [Becky] It was a very big thing because that was the longest bridge in the world for a minute.

- At first, they had a turn around and you could drive over there and turn around and come back.

You didn't have to go all the way over.

- But it seems so long, 25 miles or whatever it was.

Also, you were facing the oncoming traffic.

There was only one bridge, that's scary.

You kinda feel like you're in a pinball machine because you can't go anywhere else.

- Couldn't wait for that to open back then when I was a teenager.

The only reason why I wanted it to open because it was 24 miles of straight concrete.

I could drive that thing as fast as I could.

And there was some nights when I would go out there and see how fast I could travel across.

And my personal best was 24 minutes.

That was in a 1955 Buick.

(car passes) - And I still recall the ka-thump, ka-thump, ka-thump, of the causeway as you went across.

And of course it was just two lanes, so it was a very dangerous trip.

And it was also an adventure in itself because you never, no one sees that much water over a period of time like that.

- [Narrator] The intersection of Veterans and Causeway is one of the busiest in the entire state.

It's hard to believe that only 50 years ago, people hunted here.

That all began to change when Lakeside Shoppin' Center opened in 1960.

- I do certainly recall the day it opened.

That was the big thing, to go to this big shopping mall.

And it was open air and a helicopter flew over and dropped ping-pong balls, as I recall, and some of them had markings where you get 50 bucks or five bucks or whatever, so it was a big scramble to go get the ping-pong balls and everybody really was quite excited about Lakeside opening 'cause that was gonna be much easier shopping.

Public transportation really wasn't that easy or that convenient, it was harder to get into the city.

- [Narrator] The same stores that could be found downtown were also at Lakeside.

Godchaux's, Kreeger's, and Holmes's were familiar names to suburban shoppers.

The mall also had special activities to draw the crowd in.

- I don't think there was a weekend that went by that, for entertainment, as high school kids, you would go to the mall to see who you could see and participate in activities.

They had the fountains in the middle and for pranks we'd walk through the fountains on a dare.

You could get people's attention that way.

You know, you cut up a little bit, but that was really a primary destination point for high school kids back in the 60s was Lakeside.

- [Narrator] Lakeside lead the way for development along Veterans Boulevard, which became the East Bank's main commercial thoroughfare.

- I think Lakeside probably did more to ignite Veterans than anything else because everybody tried to get to Lakeside.

Lakeside was there before the interstate was there, so if you were gonna get to Lakeside, you went north on whatever avenue you could until you got to Veterans and then you went east or west until you got to Lakeside.

- [Narrator] On the other side of the river, off the West Bank Expressway, it was Stumpes West-Side Shopping Center.

Which havin' opened in 1958, actually predated Lakeside.

- Well at West-Side Shopping Center they had all these stone figures of dinosaurs and the Flintstone's character and we would play on those structures the whole time while mom and dad went shopping along that strip mall.

That was kinda like the state of the art when it first opened.

- [Narrator] The parkin' lots at the shopping center also provided space for an important teenage rite of passage.

- [Myrtis] That's where you learned to drive the car.

- Oh yes, daddy would take me in the Lakeside parking lot-- - After hours.

- And train me how to drive, so I could get my driver's license.

And he gave me my car, and he had been drivin' me to all these lessons and he said, now take this car and don't ever ask me for a ride again.

(laughs) - [Narrator] And once you passed that drivin' test, you could put the pedal to the metal.

Lots of fresh concrete encouraged a particular past time.

- Veterans was the local drag strip back in the early 60s, throughout the 60s.

If you wanted to race, Veterans Boulevard was the place to go.

Veterans Boulevard was just, lay the rubber down (motor races) and go as fast as you could.

It was streaking, it was fun, and it was blazing.

People brought cars out there that you see running in drag strips now.

They pulled them out there on trailers and cranked them up.

And you could probably hear them across the river, they were so loud.

- We heard it goin' on out here, but I never saw any of it myself.

'Cause normally the did it late at night, and I could hear 'em on the street, just going past at the rapid rate of speed that they were doin'.

I never saw any or got any license plates or anything else, I woulda reported them, (laughs) 'cause you could hear them.

They were burnin' rubber.

- [Reporter] Moisant Airport, already assuming its role in the jet age, is in the heart of Jefferson Parish, near the City of Kenner.

To thousands of visitors from all over the world, the beautiful Moisant administration building has been their first glimpse of the United States.

Every day sees an increase in air traffic handled by Moisant.

Recent improvements allow Moisant to accommodate the largest jet aircraft and the number of jet flights is increasing.

- New Orleans International Airport, when I moved out there was a big quonset hut.

I remember when Moisant Airport opened in 1945.

I was there on opening day.

We all went out there and I remember in 1956 or thereabouts, the first jet airplane landed at Moisant Airport because, by that time, the main terminal had been built.

- I remember Moisant Airfield when you used to have to walk to get on the planes.

The planes were propeller driven.

The only thing between you and the planes was a page fence.

A plane would be cranking up its motors, two or four motors, and getting ready to taxi onto the runway and it would be, maybe 100 feet away from you.

And the only thing between you and the plane was the page fence.

And when the plane would taxi off and turn, the blast from the propellers was amazing.

It would almost blow you away.

- [Narrator] Some people went to Moisant Field, but never left the ground.

- During my high school years, I can remember that one thing we used to do on dates would be to go out to the airport.

And there was a ramp that extended out near the runways.

You could actually go out there and stand and watch the jets go to and fro and dream about the traveling that maybe you could do one day.

That was a date, it was fun, I loved going out there.

It was neat, just go get a Coke and watch the planes go back and forth, yeah.

- [Narrator] Movies could take you places where not even the planes could go.

Neighborhood theaters, common in New Orleans, were also a fixture in the suburbs.

Locals found cooled air conditioned comfort in theaters with names like the Aereon, the Gem, the Tower, and the Gordon.

- Yes, we had a Gem theater right here on Sala Avenue.

And then later on we had the Gordon theater.

Oh, we would meet, that was our date.

I'm gonna meet Daniel at the show, we are childhood sweethearts, so we'd meet at the show.

We walked though, everybody walked, nobody had cars.

- I also remember, on the weekends, Friday night was movie night.

Walking to the Aereon, which is no longer there, down towards the end of Metairie Road, close to Severn.

Or walking to the Grand theater, which the building is still where it always has been.

But walking to the movies was the Friday night event.

- [Narrator] Before or after the movies, there were certain hangouts you kept goin' back to.

- I can personally recall maybe two or three places.

And one of them was one of my favorite hangouts.

JC's, JC's Drive-In Restaurant.

Drive-in restaurants, just like drive-in movies back then used to be the in thing.

You could sit there all night and spend very little money, and again, everybody you knew was comin' by, sooner or later.

- I'm sure a lotta folks remember Hopper's, which was at Veterans and Causeway, just, not right immediately on the corner, but sort of where the House of Lee used to be, as I recall.

And that was one of those drive up, curbside places.

Served burgers and malts and stuff like that.

- [Narrator] For a more formal dining experience, there was the House of Lee.

It had a bit more sophisticated menu, and its own loyal customers.

- House of Lee was my favorite Chinese restaurant.

I think it was a lotta people's favorite Chinese restaurant.

And certainly a landmark that we miss today.

But I think it helped, again, established a visual landmark for Jefferson Parish because it was very distinctive in its architectural design, and of course its food was renowned.

- Oh that was a big date if you went out to dinner at House of Lee and I recall doing that a few times when I was a teen.

That was definitely a real big date.

And probably my first exposure to Asian food.

- [Narrator] Lee Bing opened the restaurant on Veterans in 1959, his six children worked in the family business.

- So being the number one son, I got to be the manager, havin' no regular experience at all.

But typical of the Chinese families around the world, especially New Orleans, the children all worked in the family business, and we all worked in the family business.

When we started out, we opened at seven o'clock in the morning, closed at 12 o'clock at night.

And we all worked those hours, seven days a week.

- [Narrator] The place earned a local, if not regional, following.

- My dad put on the card, he said the biggest Chinese restaurant south of the Mason Dixon line.

I don't think he knew what the Mason Dixon line was, but he it just sounded nice to say, it was a big restaurant.

It was, at the time, a humongous restaurant, just really a big restaurant.

I can remember when the building was goin' up, my father was there every day from the time the workmen got there to the time they left.

And when the super structure was up, I remember sitting outside, reading the paper.

He looked at Veteran and Causeway and he said, one day this property's gonna be as valuable as Canal and Rampart Street.

Well, as it turns out, it's actually more valuable than Canal and Rampart Street.

- [Narrator] In fact, when the House of Lee closed in 1995, a developer paid more than a million dollars for the site.

While Lee Bing's real estate prediction proved to be a good bet, for another industry in Jefferson, the odds were much riskier.

Long before casino gambling was legalized in Louisiana, games of chance, legal or not, were big business in Jefferson Parish, especially after illegal gamblin' was shut down in New Orleans.

- One of the reasons was when Shep Morrison got in as Mayor, he came in as a reform Mayor, everything moved out from there.

Because New Orleans did have gambling in the 20s and everything, almost every tavern, every restaurant had a little game in the back or somethin' like that so they all moved out here.

We had about four or five large gambling clubs, they didn't call them casinos in those days.

And they had a bunch of small ones, and then they had smaller ones that only stayed open during the daytime, these other ones actually opened at five or six at nighttime.

Then gambled all the way until five, six in the morning.

- [Narrator] Even outside the clubs, slot machines were a common sight.

- Gambling was wide open in Jefferson Parish.

As a matter of fact, not only was gambling wide open in Jefferson Parish, slot machines were all over Orleans Parish as well.

They were everywhere, slot machines were absolutely everywhere.

- My mama used to give me a quarter to go to school, and I'm ashamed to tell ya, that I used to go, on the way to school, they had a donut place right just a few doors from the school, and I used to go in there in the mornin', and they had a slot machine.

And I would play that slot machine with my quarter that I had for lunch, until either I lost it, or until the bell would ring, but I remember one time I was winnin' and the bell rang and I didn't go to school, I went to school late that morning.

And let me tell ya, that teacher called my daddy and told my daddy, and let me tell ya, I didn't do that no more.

- [Narrator] Slots lead to bigger business.

In the heyday of illegal gambling in Jefferson Parish, the 1930s through the early 60s, a strip along the River Road in Jefferson, known as Southport, was home to several gambling clubs.

There was the Southport club, which later became the Old Southport Club, then the Original Southport Club.

Other legendary names include, the Club Forest on Jefferson Highway, and O'Dwyer's, run by the O'Dwyer brothers.

The place was billed as the Climax of Smart New Orleans Entertainment.

Besides Black Jack and roulette, big musical acts, such as Al Hirt, took to the stage.

Although they were illegal, the clubs found that it paid to advertise.

Even if they couldn't post their odds out in the open.

- Just gave 'em a special charm, being illegal.

It sort of gave you a feeling, like you were in a speakeasy or something like that.

- [Narrator] One of the biggest and best known of the clubs was on Labarre, near River Road.

The Beverly Country Club looked like a southern plantation.

It opened in 1945 and was considered to be one of the country's finest casinos.

Matchin' the elegance of their surroundings, the crowds dressed for the occasion.

After all, the Beverly promoted itself as America's Smartest Dinner and Supper Club.

- Oh, you dressed up to go to church, so in these places it was all the finery, all the finery, and you didn't see a man without a tie.

In the Beverly, for the showroom, you didn't see a woman without a long dress, so it was quite elegant.

- [Narrator] Big stars, including Sophie Tucker, Carmen Miranda, and Rudy Vallee all played on the Beverly stage.

Gamblin' was illegal in Louisiana, though tolerated in Jefferson.

The Beverly was owned by reputed New York mob boss Frank Costello, his deputy Dandy Phil Kastel, Meyer Lansky, and their local associate, Carlos Marcello.

Underworld ties may have eventually undone the casino business here.

For years though, the club survived with the sheriff's blessing.

- They were well established, absolute.

You would have thought they were legal, except they were illegal, and the man who made them legal, of course, was Frank Clancy.

He was the sheriff for many years out in Jefferson Parish.

And the Kefauver Committee came to New Orleans and decided to close those places down.

And I remember they got Frank Clancy on the witness stand there to ask him why he didn't close them down.

He said, well, I didn't know what was going on in those places, they wouldn't let me in.

And there was a picture in The Times-Picayune, the editorial cartoon of The Times Picayune, showing Sheriff Clancy, you know, a caricature of Sheriff Clancy, big six guns on his side, tall Stetson hat, big badge here, saying, crying, saying, they won't let me in.

(laughs) - According to Washington it was illegal, 'cause I guess they weren't gettin' their taxes.

But in Louisiana, the sheriff was in with it, the governor was in with it, everybody closed their eye and everybody was enjoying it, so when Kefauver came down in '52, he tried to close everything up.

- [Narrator] In 1951 a US Senate investigation, lead by Senator Estes Kefauver, shattered some of the mystique of gamblin'.

After testifying before the committee, Sheriff Clancy shut some of the clubs down.

Later Louisiana's reform governor, Robert Kennon, and his clean-cut state police superintendent, Francis Grevemberg, launched raids and broke up the fun.

Literally.

But a good club owner knew how to beat the rap.

- When I had the bakery, there was a gentleman that owned the Deacon Street Club.

He'd come once a week and I kept asking, I said, boy you got a lotta birthdays in your family.

Oh, he says, that's not for that.

He says, we having a, if we get raided, we turn the table upside down and put the birthday cake in the middle and everybody starts singin' Happy Birthday.

So it was just a ruse.

- [Narrator] In 1972, after the gambling era, the Beverly experienced a new life as a dinner theater, showcasin' local and national talent.

Gamblin' was eventually shut down, but the games would make a comeback, this time, legally.

The 1990s brought two riverboat casinos to Jefferson Parish, one on each side of the river.

Doubloons not chips, were what people clamored for in other areas.

Before Veterans Boulevard became home base for carnival in Metairie, the parades marched where the people were.

Up until the 1970s krewes rolled down Metairie Road.

- Yeah, that was a big thing, parades on Metairie Road.

That was the big place to go and see the parades.

And that's where they were for the longest time, and the parade routes started along Jefferson Highway.

That was a great thrill, that was a great free date, so to speak, a cheap date at least, to go out and see the parades.

That was a lotta fun.

I like fond memories of them.

- [Narrator] In 1958, the Krewe of Zeus staged Metairie's first nighttime parade on the Monday before Mardi Gras.

Insiders knew that an advantage to the Metairie Road route was a number of drinkin' establishments.

Zeus found it his duty to stop and toast his loyal subjects at every bar along the way.

As a result, the very first parade took a record five and a half hours from start to finish.

The West Bank Krewe, Grela, was actually the first to parade in Jefferson, beginning in 1948.

Where did the unusual name come from?

Grela is a combination of Gretna and Louisiana.

There was also the short-lived Krewe of Jeffla and abbreviation for Jefferson, Louisiana.

A women's krewe, Helios formed in 1955.

- [Becky] My mother was a member of Helios, which was the first-- - [Myrtis] Carnival ball in Metairie-- - And Zeus, Helios and Zeus, you know that was the ladies and the men.

Well, I got to be the jester in the ball and our twirling group marched down Metairie Road in the parade.

We had the most fabulous costumes and oh it was just wonderful to me.

With the boots with the tassels and the whole thing.

I loved that.

- [Narrator] You could find floats on Metairie Road during Carnival.

But in December, another old Metairie street glowed with the excitement of bonfires.

- My sister-in-law always had a Christmas party and she lived in the 500 block of Bonnabel, and then we started a New Years Eve party in the 800 block and when we saw these other people puttin' bonfires out, well, we decided, well that's be nice to do.

'Cause nobody ever told us we couldn't do it.

Up and down Bonnabel, I guess you could see maybe eight or nine bonfires that people were doin' that.

But it only lasted for two years, the Parish stopped us.

- Everybody danced around, it was like wild, but I had a friend who said, the reason they named it Bonnabel Boulevard, 'cause they had bonfires on Bonnabel Boulevard.

Don't you see, bonfires, Bonnabel.

I'm like, what, I don't see.

(laughs) - [Report] This land and these people constitute the embodiment of our parish, which has now reached a point where it is in a position of ascendancy over all parishes of the state and over all counties of the nation in opportunities for its citizens, in service to human welfare, and the enrichment of our country and the American way of life.

- [Narrator] While these Spanish colonial buildings look outta place in Marrero, they do represent an important chapter in Jefferson Parish's history.

Built in the 1930s, Hope Haven and Madonna Manor was the dream of Monsignor Peter Wynhoven.

His million dollar boys town promised a bright future for the orphaned, indigent, and abandoned children of the area.

Betty Jenniskens Connick grew up on the grounds of Hope Haven, where her father ran the dairy.

- When Father Wynhoven was first ordained, he was Vice Chancellor of the Arch Diocese of New Orleans.

He began to think, well if I could take a child when he is little and love him, care for him, give him a sound education, then he would grow up to be productive citizens.

His dream was to take the boys out of institutions in New Orleans with the big high fences and the brick walls and he did not want any, his dream was not to have any fences.

That would be a place of hope and love, and that's what it was.

And, to this day, it does not have any fences.

- [Narrator] Besides giving the children a safe place to live, Hope Haven taught them skills that would serve the boys for life.

- The purpose was to give us structure and to teach us commitment and diligence and things we had to do.

I went to Hope Haven when I was nine years old and from nine to 13, I think, from 1936 to 1942 or three, I can't remember if it was quite 42 or 43, were the best years of my life.

We were all self-sufficient at Hope Haven.

We grew our own food.

We planted potatoes, we grew okra, we grew snap beans, we grew corn, sugar cane, that we used to feed us.

We had our own carpenter shop that was a shop that we could learn the trade of cabinet making.

There was also a book binding shop, I also took that for a while.

And there was a printing shop.

- [Narrator] Hope Haven and Madonna Manor occupied several acres, including the land where Archbishop Shaw High School is today.

Part of the land was used as a dairy which won top awards for its milk and cattle.

- Hope Haven Dairy used to service the entire West Bank with milk.

I don't think many people know that.

The old timers know it, and it was very good milk, high grade milk.

- [Narrator] It wasn't all work.

Recreation played a big part in the boys' education.

There were several bands, a swimmin' pool, and a large playground that served as home field for sports.

- The Salesian brothers and priests used to play soccer every day, every day.

Every recess, every lunch time, every recreational period that we had, they were out there and they had these cassocks on, I don't know how they played with all of that in summertime.

We had about 13, 14 of the brothers and priests over there that they brought the game and they played it well.

And they taught us how to play it.

Man, I can remember, I used to love to get out there and play soccer, love the game, because when I was really upset at one of the priests or brothers, I'd get 'em back, right there in the ankles.

(laughs) - [Narrator] While the homes were run by the arch diocese, the funds to build them came from people of various beliefs.

The Star of David can be seen over the front door of the Madonna Manor building, in tribute to the generosity of the local Jewish community.

Today the complex is called the Hope Haven Center.

It provides residential treatment services for children and teenagers.

The times may have changed, but the man who started it all is still there in spirit.

- Father Wynhoven used to come over and even after everything was built, and visit.

And my dad used to walk with him around the Hope Haven, and one day he was walking with Father Wynhoven, my dad, and Father Wynhoven said to him, as they passed the Sacred Heart statue, right in front of the church, Thomas, when I die, I want to by buried here, with my boys.

Two weeks later, he did die.

Even after he died, things still grow in his name.

And I really think that's just why he wanted to be buried there with his boys.

- [Narrator] There were once many farms in Jefferson Parish.

Produce farmers in Kenner, many of them Italian immigrants, grew fruits and vegetables, which were sold at the French Market in New Orleans.

Dairies were also a common sight throughout the Parish.

There were large-scale commercial outfits such as Norwood and Barbays, as well as smaller, backyard businesses.

On the West Bank, seafood was a big industry.

Shrimpers and fishermen who worked the waters off of Lafitte and Grand Isle would come home to Salaville, now Westwego, with their catch.

- When you came back, now you had Robinson Canning Company, they had Ed Martin's Seafood, and they had different places.

So what you had to come back in with your boat, with your load of shrimp, my daddy'd get on the telephone and he'd call and see, depending on which size shrimp he had, sometimes he'd wanna go to the canneries, sometimes he wanted to Mister Ed Martin's.

- [Narrator] Inside the canneries, the well-run assembly line turned that day's catch into the packaged products that ended up on the grocery store shelves both here and across the country.

- When my father was out on the boat, my mother used to go and break heads on shrimp at the shrimp factory.

And my uncle Jack Valance had a shrimp factory.

And she used to take me with her.

I was, I'm talkin' about, I was about eight years old, young guy, little bitty guy, and I'd help her break the heads on the shrimp, 'cause you put 'em inside of a little bucket, and every time you got a bucket of heads picked, you would get a quarter for that bucket.

- [Narrator] Quick and skilled hands were a valuable asset in the workplace.

- Yeah, it was by the pound.

I can remember, little cans like this, you got like 20 cents a can or somethin' like, you had to do whole lotta picking to make a dollar.

I can remember the older people gettin' angry at my girlfriend and I because we'd pick the larger crabs, you know?

Thinkin' that there'd be more meat, and she says, oh no you can't do that, you have to take what comes next to you.

But that was fun.

But you know what I enjoyed about the factory?

Listening to the old folks gossip.

That's what we would enjoy listening, got a lotta common sense from those people, yeah.

But we enjoyed listening to them talking.

- [Narrator] There were memorable stories and sights inside the canneries and, since they dealt in raw seafood, the smells were somethin' too.

- My girlfriend and I would get off the bus and go to the post office by station eight, and you know, if you've been workin' the seafood, you had an odor, you know, a seafood odor.

And we would go in the post office and the lady would say, girls, you should go home before you come here.

Because this odor gets into the post office and can't get it out.

(laughs) - When you're raised by shrimp and crabs, you don't really notice it.

Now, maybe other people came in and said, oh my god, how can you live here, you smell that?

I didn't detect any kinda smell, especially boiled crabs.

(laughs) - [Reporter] Visitors to Jefferson Parish are also treated to excellent recreational activities.

The beaches of Grand Isle lure many water sports enthusiasts to Jefferson Parish in increasing numbers each year.

(bright music) The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico attracted ardent skin divers from all parts of the country.

Here they find a dream come true in the clear waters near the offshore drilling rigs where hundreds of varieties of fish are to be found.

Yes, Jefferson Parish is truly a sportsman's paradise.

- [Narrator] For some, being around the water was a way of life.

For others, weekend getaways or summer vacations at Grand Isle were more like it.

As the only occupied barrier island in Jefferson Parish, Grand Isle is home to the famous Tarpin Rodeo, and a natural setting for saltwater fishing, swimming, and SCUBA diving.

In fact, it's Louisiana's only natural beach.

- Grand Isle is really a hidden jewel, and people are really discoverin' it now, but as a kid, growin' up, Grand Isle was the place to go and to be.

You had a chance to swim in the surf, exploring Fort Livingston on Grand Terre, the boat rides, seein' the porpoises, seein' the fishermen come in with their shrimp catches, and the oystermen with their luggers.

- That was the closest thing in this area to the Gulf.

And then, as teenagers, later on when Daniel had gotten a car, we would go, a bunch of us, down to Grand Isle and spend the day.

We would crab, 'cause you would just put, what, two poles and put a string across, you know and go out there with a dip net and pick up the crabs.

- It was a fun place, that was our Disney World.

Go to Four Bayous, go to Grand Isle, go to Empire, some place like that.

Saint Mary's Point, Bias, and Dennis, that was our Disney World, that was our vacation.

- [Narrator] Grand Isle had its regulars, but for the tourists, especially a kid in the backseat of the car, it could feel like you were goin' to the end of the Earth to get there.

- Well, the Samsonite luggage came down first.

The big clunky luggage and my mother made sure we packed everything we could stuff in the suitcase, and I'll always remember, the earliest memories that I have was that my dad had to figure out what comic books that I was going to read, that he wouldn't let me see them until we got on the road, in order to occupy my time so he could drive, and not worry about it.

- In fact, you never knew if you were gonna get there or not.

(laughs) Well, mostly because of your cars, the cars, the way they were built, and also the roads, a lot of times you had to get out and push the car if you intend to get across a rut.

But that was part of the journey, though.

That was part of the trip.

Shall I say part of the fun, if you could call it that.

- [Narrator] There was a time when plantation homes lined the River Road on both sides of the river throughout Jefferson Parish.

A reflection of its agricultural past.

Today, few remain.

Seven Oaks, located in a bend of the river named Nine Mile Point, was built for the Zeringue family in 1830.

The home had seen several owners and transformations by the time the Texas Pacific Railroad bought the property in 1912.

It became a family home once again, when the Stehles and their four daughters moved in.

- Oh, we moved to Seven Oaks in 1918.

As soon as the soldiers moved out, we moved in, the latter part of 1918.

I was seven years old.

Oh it was wonderful.

In fact, I can't think of living anywhere else that was as great as living in Seven Oaks.

It was huge, it's true, it was huge.

The atmosphere was inviting, it was pleasant, you could see it was sturdy.

It was a place where you felt you would be protected.

And you could also enjoy all the nice shade of all the beautiful galleries that were upstairs and downstairs.

Upstairs the galleries ran all the way around.

Most of the old place have just a partial gallery upstairs, but this, the galleries went all the way around, four sides.

- [Narrator] The Stehles were the last family to live at Seven Oaks, leaving the stately home in 1954.

- But I was the last of the four girls to move out.

And of course, I left my mother and father living there by themselves.

And when they moved out, the railroad just completely ignored the house, no one else moved in.

After a while, of course, some of the slates, the whole roof was slate, and some of the slates sort of moved off and rain was allowed to come in.

Eventually it just deteriorated from neglect.

- [Narrator] In February of 1976, the town of Westwego declared Seven Oaks a safety hazard.

In the early morning of August 27, 1977 it took only one hour to tear down the gracious home that had stood for over 140 years.

- One day my son came home all upset.

He said, mama they're bulldozing down Seven Oaks.

They actually took a bulldozer and pushed the columns down so that the building just gradually couldn't stand up any longer and fell flat, just all down.

And all the interior was brick.

The whole thing was brick and a slate roof.

It would have lasted forever and ever, if they had just repaired the roof, but the railroad wanted to get it out of the way.

Get it off the tax roll.

- [Narrator] The space where Seven Oaks once stood serves as a reminder of how quickly historic landmarks can disappear.

Today, there's more of an effort to preserve Jefferson Parish's past.

Gretna, for example, has developed an important historical district.

Treasures, such as the David Crockett Fire Company, the oldest continuously active volunteer fire company in the United States.

The German-American Museum and more are located there.

Other historic districts include Rivertown in Kenner, where what was once Main Street, is now museums, shops, and restaurants.

The town of Lafitte houses a fisheries museum.

And Westwego remembers it's past and that of old Salaville with a museum, located in the restored building that housed both the Fisherman's Exchange and Bernard Hardware Store.

The beautiful shores of Grand Isle are home to Fort Livingston and Grand Isle State Park, which today face attacks from coastal erosion.

While neighboring New Orleans developed as a European colony, Jefferson Parish, named after a US President, reflects the American Dream.

It's a dream of open space, expansion, and entrepreneurship.

More roads to travel, bridges to cross, and places to play.

As the Parish grows, so do the dreams.

And with each dream fulfilled, there are more Jefferson Parish Stories to tell.

- [Reporter] This then is the green parish, the parish of field and stream, the parish of smokestacks of industry without the accompanying smog, the parish of great and small business, the parish of a patriotic people who thank God for His endowment and are humble in the face of a destiny which has cast their parish in the role of the fair, strong, wide awake happy son of Lady Opportunity and his Lordship Future.

This is Jefferson Parish, and this is just the beginning.

(bright music) - [Announcer 2] Jefferson Parish Stories is made possible by a grant from the Parish of Jefferson, celebrating 175 years.

And by Lakeside Shopping Center, a proud member of the Jefferson Parish community for over 40 years, featuring more than 120 stores, specialty shops, and restaurants.

This program is also made possible by the WYES Producer's Circle.

A group of generous contributors, dedicated to the support of Channel 12's local productions.