Doddridge 1895-1920

After the Texarkana, Shreveport, and Natchitoches Hallway had crossed the Spring Bank - Bright Star road, this point, which was now the new Doddridge, began to grow into a town. Cotton and timber products of all kinds were now shipped from Doddridge on a regular basis. Stores began to be built. During this growth period from 1895 through the 1920s, there were of course many other commercial enterprises in addition to stores. Blacksmithing, for example, was a highly needed service of that day to repair farm and home equipment and to shoe horses. Some of the blacksmiths who have had shops in Doddridge are Posey Westmoreland, Alonza (Lon) Mc-Carty, a Mr. Jansen, Donald Lloyd, “Old Man” Holland, “Old Man” Grain, and John Cabiness.

The grist mill was also very important in those early days because corn bread was one of the main items of the daily diet. Flour bread was considered a luxury and consequently was eaten only on special occasions. Store-bought bread was almost unheard of except for soda crackers which, too, were considered a novelty and a luxury.

Sawmilling stood next to cotton farming as the money producing activity. There have been numerous small sawmills in Sulphur Township throughout all of its history. Just a few of the names associated with saw milling are the Bryant brothers, Julius, Paul, and Hiram; Samuel Leroy Nelson, Bob Abraham, and Spring Bank Lumber Company.

Commercial fishing on the Red River and the Sulphur River was an active enterprise for many people from the earliest of times. However, by 1930, the rivers were being over-fished, and the scarcity of fish became severe. There was also a great increase in the expense of fishing. These factors ultimately drove the last of the fishermen from the business. A few of the names associated with the fishing business were Ed Barnes, Oglesby, Cutchall, Sam Stephens, Jack Linson, Mike Evans, Victor Dial, Dave Andrews, Albert Gambol, Olie Samson, and Dudley Harrison.

There was always a market for railway ties, and the forests surrounding Doddridge were always a prolific source. Most ties in the earlier days were hewn by hand axes, a slow and laborious work, especially on a sweltering hot day. A few entrepreneurs managed to own tie mills. These were small power sawmills especially designed to cut ties. The ties were brought to Doddridge (usually by wagon) and then graded and bought by a tie buyer. After several boxcar loads were accumulated, the ties were shipped to a creosoting plant in Texarkana. Henry Field, in addition to his store business, was a tie buyer in Doddridge for many years.

Telephone poles too, were “a big-ticket item” along with railway ties. Pine was mostly used, but the ideal telephone pole was cypress. Without treatment, a cypress pole would last indefinitely. However, there were very few of these, and they also were difficult to obtain since they grew in swamp areas, often in water.

The country peddler was one of the more colorful enterprisers in the growth of Doddridge. There was one whose name was George Zedde, a Syrian, who started out by carrying his goods on his back. He sold cloth, tapestry, throw rugs, and other such items that could be folded and carried on his back. George’s wife was Bonnie Adams, who was the sister of Jeannie Stephens. Other peddlers drove small wagons which had been outfitted with display shelves. They sold such things as flavorings, spices, cloth, lace, stockings, flavored pie mixes, buttons, thread, and other miscellany. In another section of the wagon was a place to store live chickens. Most peddlers would accept chickens, eggs, and butter in payment for goods.

The peddler was always a welcome interruption, especially to the housewife who had a little time to spare away from the kitchen. Seeing his display of beautiful goods and hearing him talk about them was especially spellbinding to the children, who stood about looking and listening with mouths agape.

At times, the local fisherman would come peddling after there had been an unusually large catch. His fish were straight from the river, and the approximate price at that time was ten or fifteen cents per pound.

The Charles Bailey family, who were cattle raisers, would likewise come around peddling freshly slaughtered beef. It was hauled in a wagon, and green limbs from the sweet gum tree were placed over the meat so that the rustling of the leaves would keep the flies away.

Prior to World War I, there was a hotel in Doddridge located just east of the J. B. Hemperley store. It was owned and operated by Lon and Ethyl Blanton McCarty. Most of the customers of the hotel were drummers (salesmen from wholesale houses) who traveled by train to all of the towns on the railroad to sell to stores the stock they needed.

At the turn of the century, barbering was done mostly in the home. Parents or older children would do the family hair cutting. A few people did a small side-business of cutting hair on Saturdays in their homes and thereby made a little extra money. The downtown barber in Doddridge was likely to have been a late-comer, and even then, he operated mostly on Saturdays.

LoRene McCarty suggests that John Ledbetter probably had the first shop in town, and it was located in the back part of the Slay-Field store. He later built a shop between the Hemperley and Miers stores. His son, Harvey, ran this shop in later years. In the 1920s, Charley Cauthorn and Kelley Bryant ran a successful shop next to the Sam and Jeannie Stephens store. This shop, incidentally, also became a haven for people who liked to play cards all night. Still later, Fred and Ray Yancy operated a shop nearby on Highway 71.

The one thing which never really did very well in Doddridge was the restaurant business. Jeannie Stephens was the only person who gave it a reasonable try; she had a small restaurant in the Miers store, and later in her own store on the creek; but in each instance the operation was only a small side endeavor. The demand never really appeared. The only people who were ever in town were from there; consequently, everybody ate at home. Travelers were a rarity.