Pineland Park upriver from Houltonville was a fun place in its day. It was on the east side of the Tchefuncte River, a little upstream from Madisonville. It featured a large dance hall, a restaurant, amusement places, boat houses, and vacation rentals. A ferry took people across the river in the days prior to the building of the bridge.
In a letter to the St. Tammany Farmer in 1974 Charles J. Mugnier of Madisonville recalled that Pineland Park was several riverbends upriver from the town and was the terminal for the paddle-wheeled passenger boat The New Camelia.
That vessel brought folks from Milneburg (Pontchatrain Beach) in New Orleans each Wednesday and Sunday to Mandeville, Lewisburg, and Madisonville.
Further down river from Pineland Park, and closer to Madisonville, was Houltonville, also known as White City. Its large gathering place was called "The Pavilion" while the building next to it was a general merchandise establishment, or company store for The Houlton Lumber Co.
The lumber company operated a huge sawmill employing most of the population of Houltonville, according to Mugnier. "This company, similar to many such company owned communities in the Southern states, paid workers in "script," which consisted of cardboard discs in denominations of one cent, 50 cents, and $1 pieces (equivalent to U.S. Coins of similar value.)"
The company employees had a special name for the funny money, referring to them as "squizzlums," Mugnier said.
The Pavilion
The Pavilion operated for many years until the sawmill closed down around 1915 or 1916.The businesses associated with it were a restaurant, a saloon, and sleeping accommodations. "There was also a dance and entertainment hall for mill workers," Mugnier said.
Music was popular, and the instruments included harmonicas, piano, and guitars. Mugnier stated that "the favorite drink quaffed by the merrymakers was red wine, spiked with grenadine, called "Sweet Lucy."
There was also a butcher shop furnishing beef, lamb and pork meats, all of which was slaughtered, placed in public cold storage and fully processed by the owner, Mugnier went on to say. "It might be said at prices of 25 cents per pound for the choicest steak, with pork and lamb at even lesser cost," he noted.
The entire business complex was owned, operated and managed by Eugene Mugnier, the brother of Gus and Henry Mugnier, who operated the renowned Crescent Hotel (also known as the old Mugnier Hotel) located on the lakefront in Mandeville.
Eugene Mugnier, to say the least, was a most enterprising individual, Charles stated. "He also, in conjunction with the Pavilion, operated the restaurant and saloon for many years on the steamboat New Camelia," Mugnier explained.
See also:
