03/01/2022
The story of Garden City:
“Did you know that the town of Garden City originated as a planned community? It was a lumber company town, planned and built by the Albert Hanson Lumber Company of Franklin. Albert Hanson believed that each worker had the right to first class housing. With that idea in mind, he built a company town and moved his mill operation therein 1901. Albert Hanson came to this country, as a boy of 15. He first settled in Algiers, Louisiana where he worked in a shipyard. While there he met Anna Ward, who had come from County Clare, Ireland. They married and had five children, two of whom died in childbirth. When Hanson came to Franklin after the Civil War, he first joined Mr. Thomas Smardon in his shipyard. Later he formed a partnership with Mr. O.J. Trainer. That partnership was dissolved in 1891 by mutual agreement. Hanson continued the shipyard lumber business as it was until 1893 when the shipyard was discontinued and it became Albert Hanson Lumber Co., Inc. The business was located along 14 acres of the Bayou Teche, beside the house that is now addressed 114 Main. Hanson had bought that home for his family in 1880. The smaller house still standing to the right of the site was the company office. The Franklin facility had a capacity of 45,000 feet per day and was said to be equipped with the very latest and most improved machinery. A St. Mary business publication dated 1889 states that the company shipped through to St. Louis and Chicago. There was a tramway running from the mill to the Southern Pacific Railroad at the Depot. Franklin's population at that time was about 3,500. Business ads of the day show that the company handled band sawed Louisiana Red Cypress, cypress lumber, dressed flooring and ceiling, molding, sash, blinds, doors, brackets, railroad timber, cross ties and bridge lumber. The first association of cypress lumbermen was organized along the Teche, January 2. 1900, according to the Louisiana Historical Quarterly. It was known as the Teche Cypress Association. The first meeting was held in New Iberia, with representatives of the Albert Hanson Lumber Company and The Kyle Lumber Company present. Around 1900, Albert Hanson decided he needed more room to expand his business, and wanted room to build the town he had always wanted for his workers. According to old Garden City Post Office records, he purchased 65 acres of land just outside Franklin called the Garden City Plantation. His new lumber town of Garden City was a complete community. The mill operations wire moved from Franklin. There was an overpass for crossing the road with mule-drawn wagons carrying cut lumber. Along with such things as a blacksmith shop, there was a store, a school, and a church built for company workers. Several two-story Victorian homes, located on what is known as "the loop," were built for the company managers and their families. There were also several identical shotgun houses built along the railroad tracks, as part of the lumber complex which housed the mill workmen. These were called, "the Quarters". Some of these homes are still standing on the same sites, although most are in a sad state of disrepair. It is believed that some of them were built by Hanson and some, with a little different look, were built later by May Brothers. Ruth Fontenot, who was doing an historical ' Survey of the area, interviewed former Lt. Gov. "Taddy" Aycock not long before he died. He remembered that when his father, Clarence Aycock, and Capt. Nicholas G. Huth, a steamboat captain, bought the Garden City property during the depression from F.B. Williams Lumber Company, they sold the lovely two-story homes for $100 each and several were moved to Franklin. One of these, now located at 1011 Perret Street, was renovated a few years ago by George Thomson and stands as another pleasant reminder of times gone by. By this time Albert Hanson was becoming advanced in age, but stayed actively involved in the business. His son, Edward Ammond Hanson was associated with his father in running the lumber company. He was also an alderman on the Franklin town council and president of the Franklin Opera House Co. Albert Hanson died in 1908 at the age of 81, and his son Edward died only four years later in 1912. This left the lumber business to Hanson's two remaining children, Margaret (Maggie) H. Lawless, and Mary Ellen (Minnie) H. Conolly. Mrs. Lawless was married to Thomas Cheney Lawless who had first come to Franklin from Thibodaux to work for Albert Hanson. Later he was a partner with Captian William Kyle in the Kyle Lumber Company. Mrs. Conolly was the widow of William B. Conolly of New Iberia. After the death of Edward Hanson, Mrs. Lawless became president of the lumber company, and her husband was vice president and general manager. Mrs. Conolly was also on the board of directors. During the time Mrs. Lawless was president the Hanson Canal was constructed to facilitate the movement of logs to the mill at Garden City. Court house records show a 1914 amendment to the charter of the Hanson Lumber Company which moved the primary office from Franklin to Garden City. The office was in the Greek revival building now being renovated as a private home, but best known as the old post office building. Offices were on one side of the lower floor, with dining facilities on the other side. Upstairs were sleeping quarters for some of the managerial staff whose families chose to live in Franklin. There was even a wooden plank walkway which ran from the building all the way to Franklin, so that the men could safely walk to visit their families on weekends. The amendment states that the board intended to continue the sawmill business, as well as the commissary and general merchandise store. The business at this time was said to "manufacture, purchase and otherwise acquire timber, and timber lands, and rights of-way, and to own and operate steamboats, pull boats, dredges, skidders, canals, railroads, and other facilities and apparatus for transporting timber and lumber products and by-products." It is very Interesting to. note that on the official document, T.C. Lawless had to state that he authorized his wife Maggie to sign the charter amendment. She could be president of the company in 1914, but could not sign a legal paper without her husband's permission! Mrs. Conolly, although on the board, was not actively involved in running the family business. A widow, she was known for her philanthrophy. Like her father who had been a trustee of the Catholic Church, Mrs. Conolly was a staunch supporter of the church. She built and endowed Hanson Memorial High School, originally a Catholic school for boys only. She received the papal medal, "Pro "Pontifice et Ecclesia" for her support of the Catholic Church. Mrs. Mary Alberta Blevins, daughter of T.C. and Maggie Lawless, continued her aunt's financial support of Hanson by being largely responsible for the football stadium. In 1924 the F.B. Williams Cypress Company of Patterson purchased the Albert Hanson Lumber Company of Garden City for $1,250,000 from the company stockholders, Maggie Lawless, Captain Cheney Lawless, and Mrs. Minnie Conolly. Included in the sale was the lumber and other stock oh hand the town of Garden City, and from 3,000 to 4,000 acres of cypress and tupelo gum timberland in St. Mary, St. Martin and Iberia Parishes. The mill at Garden City had a capacity of 100,000 feet, per day by this time and the operation was not interrupted, according to a Banner article from that date. The operation employed 800 men. Later, around 1927, May Brothers leased the lumber company from, F.B. Williams. Sometime during the Depression, the property was sold again to Huth and Aycock. May Brothers, continued to lease much of the property. May Brothers, because they developed a special method for getting logs others considered inaccessible out of the swamps, earned a reputation as the largest marine logging operation in the world. Mr. E.H. Thibodaux and his wife opened a store in Garden City around 1933. They sold groceries, dry goods, and notions. It is interesting to note changes in prices listed in the old ads and those of today. Gone are the days of picnic ham for 11 cents per pound and 10 lbs. of sugar for 48 cents! In 1933, one could buy an "Uncle Sam work shirt" for 49 cents. Today work shirts from Sears cost $11 to $15. May Brothers closed their logging operations around 1954 or 1955. Most of the other companies had closed much earlier. It was the end of an era. The little town of Garden City remains as a monument to days gone, but certainly not forgotten.” - Saundra Brooks (11/10/1988)
