Pierre Enguerrand Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville

 Mandeville got its own historical marker in 1963, spotlighting the individual after whom it was named.

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Pierre Philippe de Marigny in 1830

According to Geni.com, Pierre Enguerrand Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville

was born in New Orleans in 1740, the son of Antoine de Marigny de Mandeville and Francois de l'Isle. He married Jeanne Marie d'Estrehan. He was made Colonel of Militia and put in command of the new Spanish town of Galvezton, near Baton Rouge. 

"He built a colossal Marigny fortune reputed to be seven million dollars at his death. To concessions obtained from France by his father Antoine, he added large concessions granted to him by Spain, and profiting by opportunities, Pierre invested in real estate, buying large plantations which made him not only the greatest landowner of New Orleans, but also its richest citizen. Pierre de Marigny de Mandeville also purchased land on the opposite shore of Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans in what is now Mandeville. He died in 1800 and was buried in St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, Louisiana."

Cat Picture Takes 3rd Place

This photograph, taken almost 100 years ago by Maud J. FitzSimmons of Covington, LA, won third place in a photo competition and was printed in the local newspaper.  It was entitled "Three's A Crowd." Click on the image to make it larger.

So people have been taking cat pictures for over a hundred years and posting them for others to enjoy. 

Old Family Photo Scrapbook

 Sometimes people will give me old photo scrapbooks to scan, but they won't know anyone in the pictures. They pick up old photo albums at estate scales, antique shops, or just find them thrown away. I don't know the story behind this particular group of photographs I scanned, but I thought I would share them. 

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Kennedy's Saloon

Dog and cows

Family picnic group picture

Several pictures were taken from a train

Mandeville Police Chief Loeb Honored in 1973

 In June of 1973, the St. Tammany Kiwanis Club honored Police Chief Ernest Loeb of Mandeville as its "Lawman of the Year." Here is the article written about that special event, which included an overview of Mandeville's early police department.

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Here is the text from the article above:

Mandeville Chief of Police Ernest Loeb Chosen Lawman of the Year

June 17, 1973

Chief of Police Ernest Loeb of Mandeville was honored by the St. Tammany Kiwanis Club recently as Lawman of the Year. His work in the Mandeville area was commended by the group, for he had taken what was a "one man" department and turned it into a modern law enforcement agency with just limited funds.

Chief Loeb, while honored by the award, said that he really accepted the recognition on behalf of his staff and fellow officers. "Law enforcement is such a cooperative effort," he said, "I can't see how one can single out any one officer for such recognition, but I appreciate the recognition. I really couldn't have done anything without the cooperation of other law enforcement agencies."

Loeb received the award in ceremonies at the Colonel and Son Restaurant recently. He was nominated by Spike Tyrney of the Madisonville Police Department. "Whenever I need help," Tyrney commented, "all I have to do is call up Chief Loeb on the radio."

Loeb became chief of police in January of 1969, appointed by the council. At that time there was only one part time man on the police force, Loeb himself. Now there are five full time officers, five part time officers and auxiliary officers who help on the weekends. Loeb feels that his department has made substantial progress in the past four years, and that it is well staffed and equipped to handle the crime problems for some time to come.

"We have all the equipment we could need," Loeb said, saying that the Mandeville Police Department had available everything from resuscitators to a radio base station.

The department has expanded its radio communications somewhat, with two channels available, a citizen's band channel as well as its own private frequency. The department has three radio operators, one manning the radio at all times.

"Therefore we don't have to rely on the sheriff's department radio," Chief Loeb said.

In transportation, the department only had one good car and one "wreck" when Loeb came to the position. Now the force has three cars on call. "We're better off than a lot of police departments," Loeb said, "there's no question about that. As the town gets larger, the police problems will get larger, but we'll be able to handle the growth for quite a while with the facilities we have now."

"We're really very lucky here. The town council has provided the funds to set up a good police department and as a result, crime is not that bad."

While there have been the average number of burglaries, Loeb did say that there had been very few armed robberies and even fewer murders. While the majority of crimes were not of a serious nature, there had been several kidnappings, attempted kidnappings and attempted rapes, he added.

"Our success in solving crimes varies from time to time," Loeb explained. A recent discovery of a house containing dynamite and nitro glycerin prompted a cautious search of Mandeville for such caches of explosives.

Dynamite All Picked Up

"I think we have all the dynamite picked up around town," he commented.

Loeb thinks that the rapid growth of Mandeville is phenomenal. "It's unreal to think of how this place is going to grow," he said. "It will create a lot of problems, for sure, but for the most part it's going to be a controlled growth, something the police department will be able to handle without much trouble. I don't think any other town in St. Tammany will undergo the type of growth Mandeville is about to experience."

In the meantime, the police department is cracking down on the use and abuse of motorcycles, mini bikes and bicycles in Mandeville. A series of tragic motorcycle accidents recently have prompted the police to check all such cycles for safety and adherence to traffic regulations.

"Any kid we find on an unsafe bike will be stopped and charged," Loeb said. "It's for their own safety. We'd rather crackdown now than find ourselves standing in the street later looking over one of these motorcyclists all bruised up and really hurt."

Loeb received his award while as a guest at the Kiwanis Club Lawman of the Year banquet. Also present at the affair were members of the St. Paul's Key Club, the Bogalusa Kiwanis Club, and the local Federal Bureau of Investigation office. Don Diven, resident special agent of the FBI, talked to the group about the FBI, its purposes and history.

Tom Buell was named as his successor

See also:

Mandeville Police In 1976  

State Police Boys Camp

 In 1973, the Louisiana State Police launched its summer boys camp program. Three Covington area boys took part in the first year program. 

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Steve Stonebreaker Camp

 The Steve Stonebreaker Camp held at St. Paul's School in Covington taught football skills to area kids and was a big hit with the local population, young and old, especially when some top-notch NFL players came by to visit. The first two items below are from 1973, some fifty years ago.

A dinner held at St. Paul's to welcome New Orleans Saints Owner John Mecom

St. Pauls Sports - 1989

 Here's a team picture of the St. Paul's School football team taken in August of 1989, some 34 years ago. The coaches are pictured in the second image. Click on the images to make them larger. 

Some of the players names were Tony Simmons, Chris Pierson, Nicky Messina, Max Jones, Jodey Caserta, Bryan Billiot, Jeff Erwin and Steve Reed. 

Senior Citizen Volunteers in 1977

 Here's a group picture of a number of faithful volunteers serving the various senior citizens groups in St. Tammany Parish in 1977.

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Boy Scouts Troop 1

 Here is a group picture that was identified as Boy Scout Troop 1 in Covington, LA. Click on the image to make it larger. 

In 1927 the local Troop 1, Boy Scouts of America, received its ten year charter. Here's an article from the St. Tammany Farmer detailing that event. 

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More pictures from the same scrapbook batch

In 1926 the Boy Scouts started a camp, Camp Goodyear, on the grounds of the old Nott Plantation, which was later to become Fontainebleau State Park just east of Mandeville. 

In the early 1960’s, Mike Pittman was a member of Troop 325, which was sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (as was Troop 1 in this article). There was a ceremony honoring the Troop for being one of the few Troops in the USA that was continuously operating for 50 years. Each Scout was given a gold bar patch to sew beneath the shoulder troop patch to designate membership in a historic troop. Pittman suspects that Troop 1 evolved into 325.

The above picture is in front of old Methodist Church at time of “God and Country” awards (around 1965). From left to right are Marc Pittman, Mike Pittman, Ernie Althaus, and Dirk Van Duym.

See also:

Boy Scouts in Mandeville - 1973

Elmer Lyon - Boy Scout Leader

Library Gets A Flagpole

Sulphur Springs

Christmas Boat Parade

 The Madisonville Christmas boat parade brought out a large number of folks along the riverfront. 

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