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Town of Blanchard History

The settlement of Blanchard began shortly after the Kansas City Southern Railway Company laid a road through the general locality in 1895.

To formally dedicate the new township, the residents held a barbecue on September 17, 1896. The new township was given the name Blanchard, honoring State Senator Newton Crane Blanchard, who later became Governor of Louisiana (Governor Blanchard is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport).

The first school to serve the area was the Pine Hills School located at the intersection of the present Pine Hills Road and the Womack Road. The Castle Springs School, located in the Baptist Church building near the Wasson Road, and the Hickory Grove School, which was located on the present Cravath home place, later served the community.

Another school, which served the general area from the late 1800’s to about 1918, was the Russell School, located close to the Russell Cemetery near the intersection of the Old Mooringsport Road and the Blanchard-Dixie Road. Among the teachers at the Russell School were Mr. Walter Hood, Mrs. J. M. Miller (Lona Lawton) and Miss May Newton, who taught from 1900-1901 before she taught in Blanchard.

The first school within the present city limits of Blanchard was a one-room school, which was set in a grove of trees near the location of the present Blanchard Elementary School. This school was built before 1900. Later a room was added to make it a two-room school, but one former student recalls that the second room was never used. The room was furnished, but there were not enough students to justify its use.

The first public school teachers in Blanchard included Miss Annie Ector, Miss Lizzie Bardsdale, Mrs. Alice Caldwell, Miss May Newton, Miss Laura Scheen, Mrs. Allie B. Kidd Bickham, and Miss Dorothy Sutter.

A new school, which included four rooms and a hall, was built about 1915 to replace the two-room school. This first through ninth grade school was equipped with gaslights and a cistern. In 1933 an auditorium with a stage was added, and a cafeteria was built under the auditorium. When the school cistern went dry, water was carried in a bucket from the public well near the school. All the children drank from the same dipper until about 1910 when individual metal cups were used. In 1934, a well with a drinking fountain that had two faucets was an added improvement. The concrete walk to the fountain can be seen today near the intersection of Jodie and Daugherty Streets.

Some of the principals who served this school were James Alexander, Bruce Eubanks, H. H. Faircloth, Henry Cain and Bemiss R. Scott. Teachers were Mrs. R. C. Bickham, Misses Etta and althea Dunbar, Mrs. R. V. McKneely, Mrs. J. C. Powell, Mrs. Lloyd Walker, Miss Wyolene Windham, Mrs. C. W. Gallemore and Miss Doris Ratliff.

In the spring of 1949 the School was transferred to the modern brick Blanchard Junior High School. Mr. Bemiss Scott served as principal for one year before he retired and Mr. Donald Kennedy succeeded him. Mr. C. L. Green followed Mr. Kennedy in this position in 1952. In the falloff 1955 the school was reduced from nine grades to eight, and the ninth graders were sent to Lakeshore Junior High in Shreveport. The high school students from the area continued to attend Fair Park. For many years’ high school students from Blanchard attended Shreveport High School on Hope Street. Later the Blanchard students had a choice of Pair Park or Mooringsport High Schools. About 1949 Blanchard was zoned into Fair Park. In 1967, when the 7 – 12^th grade Northwood High School opened on Old Morringsport Road, the Blanchard School was reduced to an elementary school and junior and senior high school students from the Blanchard area no longer attended Shreveport schools but attended Northwood High instead.

Among teachers who taught the majority of their time in Blanchard schools and who each taught at least 35 years before retirement were Miss Doris Ratliff, Mrs. Charles Gallemore and Mrs. J. L. Peck.

Another school has been constructed on Old Mooringsport Road near Wasson Road, which was named Donnie Bickham, who was killed in a car accident. Donnie attended Northwood School and was an honor student and outstanding athlete. This school is now called a middle school with students in 6 – 8^th grades. Northwood now is for high school student’s grades 9 – 12^th grades.

Talk to anyone that was around during the one room school and they will tell you their most memorable time was moving from the old school to the new school. This must have been an exciting time for everyone-watching the new school being built, the anticipation and then finally the big move.

The Town of Blanchard had come a long way since 1896. The population continues to grow.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this brief history of Blanchard. Most of this information was taken from the Blanchard Bounty Cookbook in which many ladies worked very hard to compile this information.