Paul Breaux: “This is where the second of the two nice places in Abbeville, was located at and was named Royal Ann’s. During my era, Kaplan and Abbeville, had a hatred for each other, and if someone from either place was ID’d, they became the enemy to the people in that town. Alex’s was a much more cordial and less intimidating place than Royal Ann’s was, but if you really wanted some excitement, Royal Ann’s had it…, just don’t say you were from Kaplan. I can’t remember when the place was removed, but you can still see the foundation it was on, that the trailor is parked on. It was at the intersection where S. State street and Hwy. 82 met up.” ...
Prim’s
Paul Breaux: “This one is known as Prim’s, and is found on Hwy. 14 in Kaplan, next to Church Street, and the Sonic is right across the street from it. Prim’s was an older crowd type, until after my time, when people would go, and play organized card games.” ...
La Chaudier
Paul Breaux: “La Chaudier (the POT) was one of the very best dance places in Kaplan from the 80’s on, until it burned down 5 or 6 years back. A man named Roger owned it, and had bands every weekend, even some from out of state. It was a success, (until an unfortunate event where a drunken underaged driver died after leaving one night and her parents sued the owner). Well, the place was never the same again, and like I said, it burned down some 5 or 6 years back (around 2010). It was located on main street, Cushing, in Kaplan, and right across from it, was the Kaplan Fire Station. Go Figure. The closest side street, was 6th street. ...
Jolly Inn
Paul Breaux: “It was located on Hwy. 82/35, right before the Intracoastal Canal. Coming from Kaplan, it was on the right side of the road and was about 1/4 mile past the Rock-a-Bye. The Rock-a-Bye was a place that was well known for fights, and if hunters or fisherman stopped, they’d better behave themselves. I remember some hunters stopped one night and were from upstate somewhere, and one of them thought it’d get a laugh, if he started blowing on his duck call. Ambulance had to come pick the three guys up, because those inside, felt like they were being INSULTED, and that was a NO-NO. The Jolly Inn, was even worse. If you knew people, you were usually okay, but if not, DON’T GO. One night, the place was packed, as usual, and three big guys, who supposedly were wrestlers who had done a job in Lafayette, came into the place, and because of their size, felt they had nothing to fear. They bumped and jostled folks, until they did it to the wrong guy. They made him spill his drink on himself, and THEY NEVER TRIED CALM HIM DOWN… when the drink was spilled and the three guys ignored him, he made them realize they had made a mistake. He took on all three of them, by himself and knocked one out inside the place. It rolled outside, where he took the second one out, and by that time, he was running out of gas from the fighting. The third guy probably would have got him, if he hadn’t jumped up on the hood of a car, and as the wrestler was reaching for him, gave a kick to the guy’s head, and God knows, it should have killed the guy. (He) was wearing COWBOY BOOTS, so when he planted his kick in the guys face, he did damage. The guy hit the ground and didn’t move. Everyone was yelling and clapping about, until we all realized, this was something the police would come to, and the ambulance, and we better not be around. We all took off at the same time, and had a long line of vehicles, heading towards Kaplan.” From information at the Kaplan Museum: “Jolly Inn: This club was located in Forked Island. It was on the east side of the Forked Island Bridge.” ...
Hideaway
Paul Breaux: “This is a place that has been there for some time. Located at the intersection of Hwy. 14 and Hwy. 13 out of Crowley, it was mostly for the older crowd. Bands did play occasionally, and they had a good turnout, but it wasn’t one of Kaplan’s best.” ...
Hebert’s
Paul Breaux: “To me, this was the very best night spot around the area. Today what you see here, is Hebert’s Restaurant, and that is what killed the night club part. Initially, and for years, it had a small area with some 6 or 7 tables in it, and the food was delicious. But the night clubs side, maybe 3 times larger in area, was where it really counted. Bands did not play very often, but a guy named Charley M., who worked for the city of Kaplan, DJ’d Thursday, Friday, Saturday and most Sundays. Charley had a talent for picking good music, and his thing was ONE slow song, then ONE fast song. ALWAYS, the songs were played in that style. And I have never seen such a demand and response, for Jitterbug music. If you couldn’t dance it, you were really at a loss. Jitterbugging always had people trying to do things, to impress everyone, and when someone did, someone else would try to out do it. The dancefloor was big, but so many people at times wanted to jitterbug, there was hardly any room, to move around… When the owners wife won her way, the lounge part was closed, they remodeled, and the whole place was then a restaurant. Great food…, but a loss to so many of us. It’s located on Hwy. 14, in Nunez, which is half way between KAPLAN AND ABBEVILLE.” ...
Prince Hall Masonic Temple
From the East Baton Rouge Public Library Places website, written by Henry Kiely http://www.ebrpl.com/oaal/places.html#temple: “(The) Prince Hall Masonic Temple in Baton Rouge…started in 1924. The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows contracted with contracted with Conner, Bryant and Bell, a Baton Rouge black contracting company, to erect a building at 1335 North Boulevard. Occupation of the Neo-classical brick building with concrete accents began in 1925…At the time the building was completed, there were some forty merchants and businesses between 12th Street and 16th Street. There were meat markets, grocers, a motor car company, a furniture company, a dry cleaners, a hardware store, a jeweler, a tailor, a drugstore, a dry goods store, a lumber company, a coffee company, and a funeral home. The two major attractions of the building were the Temple Theatre, occupying most of the first floor and part of the second floor, and the Temple Roof Garden occupying the fourth floor. The rest of the space on the second floor and all of the third floor contained offices for various businesses and professional people… The Roof Garden, now the Grand Ballroom, was the glamour spot for black Baton Rouge social functions. Best known were the appearances of national big name bands such as Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. When they played in the spring and summer months, the huge windows of the Roof Garden were thrown open and the music reverberated throughout the neighborhood. Today, local bands provide music for scheduled activities, which are held either in the ballroom or the theatre. In the early ‘30s, the Odd Fellows experienced some financial difficulties…In 1948, the Temple was sold to the present owners, the M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge, F.A. & M. of Louisiana. The building became the headquarters of 179 Masonic lodges. When it became available, air conditioning installed in the Roof Garden provided a significant change for the summer months. The windows were bricked in and plywood paneling was installed on the interior. Despite these changes, the space retains much of its original character, including handsome Neo-classical detailing. Two sets of stairs at the north end of the room lead to an original balcony from which spectators relaxed while viewing the activities on the ballroom floor. Steam heated radiators provided heat during the winter months for many social activities. Debutante parties included prominent socialites of the black community. Other catered social events were fraternal dances, wedding receptions, sorority cotillions and banquets. As the social hub of Baton Rouge’s black population, the Temple is an important addition to the National Register of Historic Places. This much deserved recognition is the result of a project launched by the Foundation for Historical Louisiana to nominate buildings important to the black community in Baton Rouge. SOURCE: Preservation In Print, (New Orleans, LA.) vol. 21, no. 5, June 1994.” From the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism webpage http://www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/hp/nhl/attachments/Parish17/Scans/17045001.pdf: “The Temple’s legendary claim to fame in Baton Rouge’s black community is the Temple Roof Garden. Stories about dances held in the ballroom are legion. Apparently its heyday as the place to go was in the late 1930s and 1940s. It was particularly popular among youth clubs for dances. Interviewees recall hiring a band when they were flush, or when times were tight, paying someone to “spin” records. However, it was the “big name” bands brought to the Temple Roof Garden by the management that fill the memories of black Baton Rougeans, who reminisce about hundreds of people dancing the night away to the sounds of such well-known bands and entertainers as Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Louie Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and the like. An ad appearing in January 1938 proclaimed the Temple Roof Garden the “finest dancing hall South.” A headline in the same issue of The Baton Rouge Post read “Harlem Play Girls Swing Before a Record Crowd.” “It was a gay night for all on the beautiful Temple Roof Garden,” wrote the reporter. Like the theatre, the ballroom drew its patrons from Baton Rouge and nearby Southern University. According to interviewees, there were no other comparable facilities in the city available to blacks during the historic period.” Bill Bolens: “Got to go up in there last year during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival. I’d been waiting something like nearly 30 years to go up in there and finally got the chance when Dege Legg had a rent party gig there. I took a bunch of pictures also. The place got history…….” Photos courtesy of Crt.state.la.org and creolegen.org ...
Broken Spoke Saloon
Paul Breaux: “This place was previously Bonanza.” ...
Bonanza
Paul Breaux: “This is a place, that was very popular for a long time. It’s located on Hwy. 14 (1st) and N. Jackson, and had an old cafe that NEVER closed, next to it, named the Vermilion. This place was so popular, as I said, that my 1970 High School Graduation party was held there. Later on, other clubs opened and competed, but the Bonanza to me, at least, was the best place in Kaplan for those my age. It is now the Broken Spoke Saloon.” ...
Annie’s Bar
Paul Breaux: “That place was old when I started going out in the late 1960’s, but at that time, it was known as ‘Lil Tavern’. In case you aren’t famliar with main street in Kaplan, Cushing, it’s divided by a neutral ground which makes it convenient to watch a parade from, first passing in one direction, then turning to watch it return. It is now called Annie’s Bar.” ...