Photos by Christie Matherne Hall
(Left) Over a hundred years ago, St. Joseph Catholic Church on Highway 16 was built oh-so-close to the road; judging by the size of the new place of worship in the back of the property, their parish outgrew the tiny white chapel in the front. (Right) Long stretches of Highway 16 between Port Vincent and French Settlement are dotted with pastoral acreage, where private property is announced with (sometimes ominous) posted signs.
Highway 16 has been part of my worldview for many years. Having grown up in Denham Springs, I called it Range Avenue—the main drag through my (then) small town. Highway 16 has changed quite a bit since then, of course: it now boasts a Rotolo’s Pizzeria, countless strip malls, a Bass Pro Shops complete with a sushi place and a beef jerky outlet, and at least two Starbucks franchises. Driving down that part of the strip hasn’t been the same for many years now.
But drive about sixteen miles further south, parallel to the Amite River and past the city limits, and you’ll find a place unaffected by such frenetic commercial development. Cornered by a swath of large and small rivers, somehow impervious to the sprawling concrete of the place where I grew up, lies the Highway 16 of Port Vincent and French Settlement.
Leaving Denham Springs due south, the departure from city limits is almost without gradient: the highway lurches into a series of wooded S-curves, and the littered ditch on the right side transforms into a sparkling lazy stream filled with bright green grass, even in January. Soon after the Port Vincent welcome sign, the stress of driving evaporates with the traffic. An old Acadian-style cottage crops up on the right, with a neatly arranged collection of rocking chairs and ancient cash registers sitting on the front porch, appropriately labeled “Scivicque’s Old House of Treasures.” Maybe half a mile further, a wooden establishment by the name of Whiskey River is already setting up at 9 in the morning.
My traveling partner and I pulled up to check it out.
We overheard the folks setting up the bar say they were tired from the night before, but they were smiling anyway. Though they weren’t open for business yet, they invited us in as if we were regulars. I’ve gotten used to the looks I get sometimes when holding my clipboard and camera—the “What the heck are you doing here?” sort of look—but I didn’t find any of that at Whiskey River. If we’d been up for a cold one at 9 in the morning, I imagine they would have obliged us.
The event scheduled that day was to benefit a veteran who had fallen on hard times. A full band was busy setting up sound equipment in the courtyard, and tons of raffle goodies lined a table inside. The veteran’s heart probably grew three sizes that day.
Up and across the highway—though I’d swear it is still a road at this point—we found something of an endangered species: an actual non-chain drive-in restaurant. It wasn’t open when we drove by on an early Sunday morning, but it’s clear that the place is still in business.
Past the busy bees of a Port Vincent Sunday morning, Highway 16 goes residential, and the folks who live in these places must be living a special kind of dream. Their backyard lakes, fishing piers, and distinct lack of chain-link fences are enviable backdrops to the life I imagine: waking up on a beautiful Sunday morning to a pot of strong Community Coffee, sipping it black while sitting in an old rocking chair on the back porch, admiring the birds landing in a little slice of serenity. I hate black coffee, but for some reason, I could see myself craving it here; I have no idea what that means for me or my future.
There’s also a very old church on Highway 16. Over a hundred years ago, St. Joseph Catholic Church was built oh-so-close to the highway, and judging by the size of the new place of worship in the back of the property, their parish outgrew the tiny white chapel in the front. The church’s old, stained-glass windows are now protected by an outer glass panel. What once may have been a concrete pathway to the side entrance is now obscured by years of grass, and benevolent oaks still shade the property’s open spaces.
People came to worship inside those white walls every Sunday for over a century. Old structures such as St. Joseph aren’t exactly a rarity in Louisiana, but their abundance does nothing to diminish their weighty significance. The air around them is thicker somehow.
A little further down the road lies Junior’s Meat Market, nothing less than a carnivore’s paradise, owned and operated by a man named Junior. His specialty? He pointed to the butcher counter, a glass case full of thick steaks of all kinds. “Our meats are all choice,” he said with pride.
To the left of that case is another, filled with homemade sausage, hogshead cheese, and other smoked delectables, which collectively account for the heavenly aroma that permeates the store. Something lying on top of the smoked meats case caught my attention, too: a lid from a cardboard box lined with red-tinted plastic bottles. Like a vision in magic marker, the box read, “Fresh Filé” and “Fresh Red Pepper,” and I realized I’d never actually seen homemade versions of these spices. I gawked at the display like an idiot for at least five minutes before I asked for a half-pound of the hogshead cheese. As I walked back to my car, a Junior’s employee bolted out of the store, bearing a baggie full of something that she clearly wanted to give me. “You like cracklins?” she yelled into the wind, even though she had to know that everybody loves cracklins. I took her generous offering and thanked her several times.
After leaving Junior’s, we cut a hard left when I spotted a road that went under the Amite River Bridge. River Bend Road is barely a road, but its camp-lined shoulder snakes along the Amite River, leading deep into French Settlement. The porches and patios on this gravel strip are legendary, and there was even a well-kept outhouse behind one of them. Once again, I imagined sitting—this time in a lawn chair, because it seemed appropriate—on a glorious patio overlooking the river that runs through these people’s backyards, sipping on black coffee.
Details. Details. Details.
Scivicque’s Old House of Treasures
18513 La Highway 16
Port Vincent, La.
(225) 698-3640 • facebook.com/scivicquestreasures
Whiskey River
18375 La Highway 16
Port Vincent, La.
(225) 698-4200 • facebook.com/pages/Whiskey-River/514599742008117
St. Joseph Catholic Church
15710 La Highway 16
French Settlement, La.
(225) 698-3110 • stjosephststephen.com
Junior’s Meat Market
17050 Highwater Road
French Settlement, La.
(225) 698-0871 • facebook.com/JuniorsMeatMarket
