Check out all the Shreveport history in the 1800's Fulton Market ledger | History Corner
We love uncovering Shreveport history and this story was right up our alley! Shelby Methvien contacted us the other day and asked us if we knew where a Fulton Market used to be on Texas Street. We said Yes! We know exactly where it once sat! It just so happens it sat beside the old Dripp Donut building that was just demolished. As a matter of fact, you can see it clearly in the photos we shared of the Dripp building from the 1920s! At one time it was also located around where the Regions Tower is now. After she told us the story behind her inquiry we were stunned! We knew it would make a great story since it involved many prominent figures from Shreveport's past! We asked her to tell us her story and here it is!
Shelby told us the following:
So a few weeks ago I went to a local antique shop here in Shreveport that I frequent often and I found this really old book, or so I thought it was.. until I opened it. Turns out it is a ledger for bookkeeping back in the late 1890s here in Shreveport. The front of the book says “Fulton Market Texas Str.” and the tag on the front of it said “1800s Shreveport” when I purchased it so I was like hmmmm that’s right up my alley let me take a look at this.. so I flipped through a couple pages once and then I walked off for a minute thinking on it.. then decided to walk back to it and started really looking through it and recognized several important names from back then like Annie McCune (The Shreveport Madam), Edward Jacobs (opened the first national bank in Shreveport) and Capt Simon Levy Jr (confederate soldier) who are actually buried in the Oakland cemetery downtown on Milam Street and I was like “Omg no way!”
I ended up putting it back again… (crazy I know…) then for the 3RD TIME I went back to it and decided to flip through the pages one last time and something inside me told me “I better get this…” so I went to the counter to check out and asked the lady behind the counter if she had any idea what this is because the numbers and everything, the way it was written out, I couldn’t put it together and she said it looks like it was something for book keeping… which makes sense. She said the owner of the booth where I purchased the ledger from had actually just brought it in that day so I went on a good day (LOL). When I got home I decided to flip through it a little more just to see what other names and businesses are in it and I came across several others like the City Hotel, Washington Youree Hotel, etc so after that… I really wanted to know what I had in my hands. I tried researching and looking up Fulton Market Texas Street but nothing was coming up for me. So my next step was to find someone who would know a little more history on this and where it would have been located off Texas Street. The first people I thought of were the Twin Blend History Hunter brothers.
A day or two before I reached out to them, the Dripp Donuts building in downtown Shreveport had just been demolished. I messaged them pictures of the ledger and the names I found in it. They were able to tell me what the business was, where it stood and how ironic…. It was the building that once stood NEXT to the Dripp Donuts building that had just been demolished. Out of all the places in downtown Shreveport, that’s where it once stood. My mind was blown, their minds were blown. We couldn’t believe this. I wanted to show them the ledger in person so we decided to meet up last Saturday, May 18th where the building once stood and take photos with the ledger. When I went to meet them they welcomed me with open arms. New memories and friends have been made because of this opportunity.
This ledger is definitely considered a rare find and I feel very lucky and honored to preserve this piece of Shreveport history!
Names and business included in the ledger are Annie McCune (the famous Madam who ran a brothel in the city's Red Light District), Ed Jacobs, City Hotel, S.G. Dreyfuss, Jules Dreyfuss and the Washington Youree Hotel just to name a few! Thanks to Shelby this piece of Shreveport history has been saved for generations to study and appreciate!!!
Twin Blends: Northwest Louisiana History Hunters
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Check out all the Shreveport history in the 1800's Fulton Market ledger
