Gibson Street Overview

Gibson Street in downtown Covington has its share of remarkable buildings and historic connections. While it may seem today in some respects like just a side street, it actually is home to a wide array of landmark locations.

The first bridge across the Bogue Falaya River coming into Covington came in on Abadie Lane and emptied its traffic out onto Gibson Street and Boston Street.

 

 

One of the first houses you'd see coming into Covington was on Gibson Street

 

The train tracks were another Gibson Street highlight. Trains arrived at Covington coming across the river and proceeded along Gibson Street. It was a major event for the passenger trains to come with load after load of weekend visitors and summer time residents. 

 

 

 

Click on the images to make them larger. 

 

 

Even the first train station was located on Gibson Street

 

 The hotels were on Gibson Street, along with restaurants and bars. 

 

 

One of Covington's most famous bars, the Little Napoleon, was at the corner of Gibson and Columbia. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Patrick Hotel was on Gibson, and later became Hebert's Cleaners

 

 

The building fell victim to the 1997 tornado

 

 

 

Then Hebert's Cleaners rebuilt in the same location
and the building was later occupied by another business

 

 

The train tracks down Gibson are seen in this snow picture early in the 1900's

 

 

View looking towards Columbia

 

 

The same view a little later, still with the train tracks

 

 

 

Gibson St. has been home to some memorable businesses

 

 

 

A downtown putt putt golf course 

 

The Star Theater's side entrance was on Gibson. 

 

 

 

 

The view towards Gibson Street, with a bench in the background where the train depot used to be. 

 

The Gibson Street side of the Star Theater, 2021.
 

 

Behind the Star Theater is the building shown below.....

 

 

Charlie's Bar later became Nathan's Sandwich Shop

 

 

Then Judice's 

 

And now Mattina Bella Restaurant

 

 

A key business on Gibson is Brooks Bike Shop. And that's because Gibson Street is now carrying the Tammany Trace Recreational Bike Trail straight into the heart of downtown Covington, where it gently curves past Rosemary's Closet and heads for the Covington Trailhead.

 

 

Over the years a number of businesses have kept Gibson St. in the forefront

 

 

Maison Nez was a popular Gibson Street business 

 

 

Now the corner of the building is occupied by Gulf Coast Lanterns

The Covington Post Office was located next to Gibson Street, with the La. Dept. of Motor Vehicles Driver's License Office right behind it. Here's a Tammany Talk column I wrote in 1972 about the daily experience of "going to the post office" on Gibson Street.

 

Art students from local high schools used to paint holiday greetings pictures on the windows of the post office to further enhance daily visits to the facility. 

 

 

Many Covington residents shopped at the Gibson Street A&P when it was located there.

 

 

Generations of Covington area residents have shopped at Marsolan's Feed & Seed Store on Gibson

 

 

 

Dependable Glass, an outstanding local store with an impressive national outreach, has its service and manufacturing facilities on Gibson  

 

 

Dependable Glass staff in June of 1979, with railroad tracks still running down the middle of Gibson Street 

 

 

The Renaissance Antiques Building

this imposing structure, built in 1910 originally as the Covington Ice House, according to historical records. The address is 322 N. Florida at its corner with Gibson Street. It served as the Ice House until the 1920s when it became home to D'Aquin's Wholesale Grain Company. The next tenant was the Blossman Petrolane Gas Company in 1934 which added a modern "art deco" front extension to the building and occupied it for decades. About 25 years ago it was renovated as Downtown Drugs. 

Executive Office Center

 

 

And with some irony, the Gibson's Department Store on the southern edge of the Bogue Falaya Plaza Mall was located on Gibson Street. 

What else is located on Gibson?

The Maritime Pilots Institute was at the corner of Gibson and New Hampshire for years, diagonal across from the Star Theater, which commanded a rich history with Covington area residents. That intersection now offers Feliciana Restaurant (where the Star used to be), the Hampshire House restaurant (where the Maritime Pilots Institute and Goodwill Industries used to be. )

Feliciana Restaurant 

The Paradise Covington Cocktail Bar (Above the Feliciana Restaurant)

Hampshire House Restaurant
(Northwest corner of Gibson and New Hampshire Sts.)

Also along Gibson are the popular Bogue Falaya Fitness Center, Gulf Coast Lanterns, a number of professional offices, the Artmasters Screen Printers and Promotions, the Renaissance Gifts and Cabaret Cafe (original Covington Ice House), and ending at the Bogue Falaya River with Gilsbar Inc. although the last few hundred feet of Gibson Street is now called Hebert Lane.

 

 

 

Artmasters

 

 

 

Bogue Falaya Fitness

Across Gibson (also referred to as Hebert Lane at that point) from Gilsbar is the tallest building in Covington, Bogue Falaya Towers. 

 

For the past several years, Gibson Street has been part of the route for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade:

 
The other end of Gibson St. brings you to the St. Tammany Parish Public School System Administrative Building on Theard St.  

Tammany Trace

One of the most amazing and popular features of Gibson Street is the fact that the Tammany Trace bicycle recreational trail coincides with the street for three blocks in downtown Covington. Tammany Trace enters from the east from its bridge across the Bogue Falaya River and merges with Gibson Street all the way to Mattina Bella Restaurant where it curves northward at the city's first pocket park and heads for the Covington Trailhead (known for its three-story clock tower)

The Tammany Trace Dog Park

Tammany Trace enters Gibson Street just north of 

Meribo Restaurant on Lee Lane. 

Community efforts were underway in 2026 in have a bicycle path designated on Gibson Street for its portion along the Tammany Trace. 

In December of 2025, Gibson Street was patched up and repaved. 

And all of this with Gibson St. being only six blocks long.  

 

 

 

See also:

 

The John Gibson Story
 
Covington Downtown Flashbacks 

More Covington Street Scenes Early 20th Century 

Nathan's Sandwich Shop

Downtown Drugs Debuts

Covington Street Photos - 1970's

Covington Street Scenes - 1982

Covington Street Scenes Early 20th Century 

 

 

 

Early Beginnings of St. Tammany Parish Hospital

The history of St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington, La., is one of a perfect convergence of strong leadership, community support, and governmental efforts to promote the building of hospitals in the rural areas.

Click on images to make them larger and more readable. 

Federal and state government had for years been talking about funding the construction of such hospitals, but Covington's citizens were already ahead of them. 

 The early beginnings of St. Tammany Parish Hospital is told in an article by Mike Scott posted to the hospital's website. It tells how Norma Core remembers that the earliest idea for a need to build a hospital came to her on a rainy night in the 1940's.

 

(Photo source: St. Tammany Health System website) 

A friend of hers had broken his leg and was heading via ambulance to a New Orleans hospital. In that heavy downpour the ambulance wrecked. The delay caused by the wreck sent her friend into shock, and he died soon after. Norma decided right then that St. Tammany must have a hospital of its own.

It took years to come to completion, but the dogged persistence of the public and the public officials, both local and national, helped it come to pass. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site on May 4, 1953.

The groundbreaking ceremony is pictured above. From left to right are Louis Voss, Archie Singletary, James Thompson (in the rear), Eugene Esquinance, Fred Mizell, Joseph Stein (in the rear), Eugene McIntyre (in the rear), Norma Core, Lucille Glisson, Walter Clairain, Oliver Hebert, Ike Champagne, Gus Fritchie, H. A. Davis, August Perez, Jack Tannehill (in the rear), Cecile Hebert, George Broom, Baxter Pond, Jessie Bankston, Father Tim Pugh, Maurice Duplantis, and L. L. Landon. 

On Nov. 28, 1954, a dedication ceremony was held. 

 

 

Click on the images to make them larger.

 

 

 

Times Picayune Editorial  Nov. 30, 1954

Scott's article, chapter by chapter, tells the inspiring story of how the hospital came to be, the local fundraising efforts, the bond issues,  the community-wide support.

To read the entire story, CLICK HERE.  

 The St. Tammany Health System Website is an interesting website filled with information on St. Tammany Parish Hospital and can be found at the following links:

Video news and information

"We Are St. Tammany"    

For more information about Norma Core, click below.

Norma Core, Covington Trailblazer 

For a report on the hospital's operations in 1962: 

St. Tammany Parish Hospital in 1962

 

 

 Norma Core

Dr. M.J. Duplantis

(Photo source: St. Tammany Health System website)

From 1977

See also:

St. Tammany Parish Hospital Guild

 

 

 

C-Innovation Assists Oil Industry Worldwide

A Mandeville company provides subsea oilfield operations services around the world. The company "C-Innovation" offers a wide variety of complex and highly-targeted skills that assist in the operation, repair and improvement of leading petrochemical industry firms.

The group provides highly advanced technology, including remote operated vehicles (ROVs) for underwater exploration and pipeline work.

Its website describes it as a "global, integrated marine services company specializing in advanced subsea solutions including ROVs, AUVs, subsea construction, fleet services, survey and positioning, and tooling services." The company provides "innovative solutions to complex challenges in engineering, project management and subsea field development."

Its important work requires flexibility, problem-solving skills, technical know-how, and, most of all, the ability to evaluate a complex situation and come up with solutions that are economically optimized. Those efforts involve the use of leading cutting-edge technology and highly-trained operators to find, document and deal with specific underwater issues.

Those "complex situations" range across a broad spectrum of oilfield challenges, primarily in the installation, upgrading, or alteration of various oil drilling, transport and storage operations.

The use of robotic remote-controlled maintenance and work platforms is one of its many services, making it the "largest owner and operator of Schilling Robotic ROVs inthe world." In addition to ROV's, the firm also utilizes a fleet of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) which allows clients to view the seabed in real-time and acquire data to make the right decisions in critical operations.

In addition to all of that, it provides a variety of other services, such as surveying, tooling, mapping and support vessels. All of this is explained in detail on their extensive webpage.

From the webpage: 

  C-Innovation’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) fleet allows clients to view the seabed and acquire data to make the correct decisions in critical situations.

AUV's recently helped find a Cold War Submarine Found Off Coast of Hawaii. It was last Seen 62 Years Ago - C-Innovation's AUV crew played a part in the discovery with the help of third-party explorers who tracked down the submarine 10,944 feet below the ocean's surface.

Here are some links:

https://c-innovation.com/

https://c-innovation.com/about-us/history/

https://c-innovation.com/about-us/mission-vision/

 

Labyrinths

Sometimes we feel like we are going around in circles, but that's not always a bad thing. In fact, Peggy DesJardins of Covington has become an expert in putting together labyrinths, a designated footpath that winds around itself in a circular pattern towards a central point. It has something to do with deep thinking and contemplation.

Peggy has been active in the arts community in St. Tammany for many years, including 20 years experience as a talented art teacher in the St. Tammany Parish Public School System. For 30 years she volunteered at the St. Tammany Art Association, mostly working with exhibitions.In her studio on Columbia Street in Covington, she taught art classes for both children and adults. After she retired from teaching she worked at the Art Association for three years running its art education programming.

Some of her time now is being spent helping friends build their own labyrinths - on beaches, on grass, and anywhere people gather to chill out, walk silently and think about things. 

Bogue Falaya Park
Click on the images to make them larger

Labyrinths have been around for thousands of years, and DesJardins enjoys helping design and build new ones, usually temporary in nature, in a variety of settings. 

Peggy says a labyrinth is what is called a "unicursal pathway to a center" where you can't get lost and make a wrong turn. "It is different than a maze," she said, "Because a maze has dead ends and false turns."

 

 

A straight down aerial drone view

The first time she walked a labyrinth was some 25 years ago in St. Georges Episcopal Church on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans during a workshop with Episcopal Priest the Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress.

Peggy became fascinated with the topic, and she ordered materials explaining how to build one. She then went to Europe to view (and walk) firsthand the famous labyrinths there. The labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral near Paris was of particular interest, since it was constructed on the floor of the cathedral using different colors of tiles. It was unavailable for walking at that time, however.

 

 

The famous Chartres Cathedral labyrinth

When she returned home, she found herself in demand as a guide for building labyrinths, and she has done a few for friends and community groups and even one in Bogue Falaya Park in Covington.

She and her friends went to Bogue Falaya Park recently to build a temporary one, laying concentric circles of pine needles to define the pathway. The "Community Labyrinth Project" offers visitors a reflective way of entering the new year.  "It's very basic geometry and not hard to do one at all," she said. "It's fun, and it builds community when a group comes together." Here are some photos of the beginning of the labyrinth in Bogue Falaya Park. 

 The Modern Labyrinth Movement was founded at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and it has since spread worldwide.

Over the years, labyrinths have been adopted by various groups and religions, but it's basically a very individualistic experience. Becoming "present in the moment" is one goal of the meditative walk, since it offers a calming of the mind, and a way to avoid being highjacked by distracting thoughts. But it's subject to private interpretation as well, as some people like to playfully dance through the labyrinth and children often like to run through it. 

"There's no right or wrong way in walking a labyrinth," DesJardins said.

She plans to soon attend a labyrinth facilitator training seminar at Chartres Cathedral in France with Lauren Artress, the founder of Veriditas, a group promoting and assisting the building of labyrinths around the world. She is hoping to walk the Chartres labyrinth since she has been unable to do so the previous two times she visited the area. 

The church at Chartres had over the years discouraged the walking of its famous labyrinth, much to the disappointment of visitors, but around 20 years ago, the church director was convinced to welcome visitors three or four days a month and let them experience the world's best known and loved labyrinth.

In March of last year Peggy was involved in the construction of a temporary labyrinth for the residents of Christwood retirement community. Several volunteers joined in to help build it, including residents of Christwood. It was greatly appreciated by all who traced its path. In four weeks, nature had erased all traces of it. She feels her group will be asked to come back this year to do another temporary one for Lent.

The beach labyrinths are built, walked and washed away within hours as the tide comes in, but they have become extremely popular with visitors, especially in Oregon. Google "Circles in the Sand" for more information. 

 

While the "temporary" ones are her all-time favorite labyrinths to build, Peggy and several other local people are working towards building a permanent one in Covington. There are companies that provide the materials and templates for the work, and even help build it if needed. For do-it-yourselfers, the company also provides labyrinth "kits" to folks who want to try building one of their own. She and her group are in discussions with local officials on where one could be located. 

Her sister is also a labyrinth facilitator. There are nearly 300 such facilitators worldwide at this time.

Peggy has been involved in many community projects over the years and was a member of the 35 people St. Tammany Leadership Class in 2018.

She is now part of a group called the "Community Labyrinth Project," with a team made up of Jan Robert, Darnell Shuart and herself. They are sharing the story of the positive benefits of both temporary and permanent labyrinths, both the benefits of people working together to build one and the benefits of individuals walking them in isolation.

Peggy was born in New Orleans, grew up in Lafayette, and always showed an interest in art and drawing. "You know that kid who the teacher always gets to help her put together the bulletin board? I was that kid," she laughed.

When she first majored in art in college she started out in print making, but her main art interest quickly turned to creating in clay. "Sometimes I do mixed media," she added. Her experience in teaching art in schools was a great outlet for her skills, and she loved teaching art history as well. 

 

Visiting Machu Picchu with a friend

Designing and building labyrinths has become an art form all its own, and unique versions of the various patterns can be found all around the world and all around St. Tammany Parish as well. They are in public spaces as brick patterns on terraces, they are painted on the floors of various camp gathering halls and retreat centers, and they can be found in the landscapes of estate gardens.

Walking labyrinths is a soothing experience, and once someone experiences their own personal reaction, they often want to find other labyrinths to walk, and maybe even get involved in building one with a group. That's what happened to Peggy and almost everyone she's shared the experience with over the years. 

For more information:

https://www.veriditas.org/

A link to an aerial drone video

 

 

(Photos by Peggy DesJardins and friends)

The labyrinth at Marianites of Holy Cross

Meanwhile, over at the Ochsner Parking Lot...